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Chautauqua County has approved the tax auction sales of 130 properties throughout the county – but the decision wasn't unanimous.
Nor, in our opinion, should it have been. There were enough complaints from property owners of properties ending up at the tax auction with a lack of notice or other issues that property owners say they weren't aware of to raise questions. The property sale the legislature didn't approve last week involved a property in which one of the bidders alleged the original property owner, who shouldn't have been allowed to bid on the property, drove the price up because county law states any profit from a tax auction sale goes back to the original property owner. That Clyner property was the only property that was removed before the full legislature voted on the tax sales.
There are always complaints raised about the tax auction process, but county legislators heard more complaints this year than they do in a typical year – and it caught the eye of legislators Tom Harmon and Lisa Vanstrom, both of whom voted against the remaining 130 sales.
“It felt like this year there were too many annoyed or perpetrated with their experiences,” Vanstrom said after the meeting, while Harmon said, "There’s just too many questions, too many inconsistencies. I didn’t feel comfortable voting yes,” he said.
We don't disagree with the legislators. The question now is what is done to prevent this much frustration with the tax auction process from repeating itself next year. It is obvious, in the case of the Clymer property, that greater protections need to be put in place to prevent profiteering if there is indeed a loophole that allows a property owner on the verge of losing a property to drive up the auction bidding in an effort to pocket more money from the sale.
The harder questions to deal with are from the property owners who came to the legislature in recent weeks with complaints of lack of notice and other issues involving the lead up to the tax auction itself. Too many property owners said they were unaware they were about to lose property due to unpaid taxes. If that is indeed true, then in our opinion Harmon and Vanstrom should lead an effort to resolve those issues before the next tax auction.
Obviously Harmon and Vanstrom thought something was awry with the way some tax auction properties were handled this year. Now, they have an opportunity to help protect property owners from similar issues in the future.