The County recently took judgment on the parcels remaining on the 2016 Tax Sale and with about two weeks until the annual tax sale, about 55 parcels remain, County Treasurer Kevin Wondra told the County Commission Monday morning.

Owners are able to redeem parcels until noon, Friday, Oct. 7. The sale will be held at 10 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 11, in the courthouse conference room on the first floor of the courthouse, 1400 Main in Great Bend.

“We don’t like to sell anybody’s property if we can help it,” Wondra said. “We make our best effort to track people down.”

As the cutoff approaches, the Treasurer’s Office staff is sending letters to property owners. They are also fanning out within the county to contact folks in person.

Wondra said he and his staff have contacted just about everyone they could in Great Bend and will focus on other county communities this week. There are also several properties with out-of-state owners.

This process of making contact is not easy, he said. They send letters to last-known addresses, but often times the letters come back as undeliverable.

Abstracts, which outline who has ownership or interest in the parcels, have been done, he said. But, not all of these are up to date since often paperwork has not been filed with the Register of Deeds Office or those listed have since died.

In addition to the mailings, the properties were published in the Great Bend Tribune. These help, but Wondra said he prefers to contact owners in person. 

This effort and the wording of the notifications all help the county, he said. The county is safe should an unknown heir come forward after the sale.

The staff also took photographs of the remaining parcels and posted them on the county’s website. This way,anyone who is interested in purchasing them can track their status and see if they have been redeemed or are still available.

“We don’t want people to wait to the last minute” to come in a take care of their bills, Wondra said.

To avoid having a property sold at auction, owners must pay all taxes. There is also a redemption fee of $170, court costs, abstracting fee and interest.

Wondra did note that if someone buys a property at the tax sale, they are not responsible for the back taxes and fees. “It is free and clear of liens and encumbrances.”