The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1926-10-28
COUNTY OWNS
MANY PLACES
Over Two Thousand Tit
les are Vested in the
County from Taxes

At the recent sale by Bento1
county of property for delinquen
taxes. title to approximately on,
thousand pieces passed to th'
county for the lack of bidders wh'
would pay the amount of the tax
es and interest, the property go
ing. to the county for the amount
Of the Judgment. Only thirteen Of
the descriptions offered were ac'
tually sold.
The amount owing in taxes anc
interest on the property Offered
was $2s,532.42 and the cost Of
publication of the foreclosure no.
tice was $11S3, making a total in
yestment by the county in this
property of s24,532.42. Some OF
the descriptions were Horse Heav-
en- land upon which irrigation dis
trict assessments, added to the
general taxes; made the burden
IN excess of the owners ability to
nav This class of stuff is non
nroductiye and it's value is specu-
1o+;ve rather than actual. A con-
:aorah,e amount Of the properly
,u.s st,,ff that had gone bad thru
soonaoa and on which irrigation
and drainage assessments added
to the general taxes had piled up
a burden in excess of the actual
value. Considerable city property
was sold also but in most instanc-
es local Improvement assessments
for sidewalk and paving were run
ming against the property in ques-
tion and amounted to far more
than could be realized under the
most favorable conditions.
Nearly all of the property in
Gcluded in the sale was nonresident
or speculatively held or stuff that
was heavily mortgaged and which
the owner had decided to abandon
altho there were some few pieces
that had value in excess of the
taxes and assessments.
In addition to the thousand de-
scriptions acquired by the county
at, the last foreclosure it has title
to some fifteen hundred descrip-
tons acquired at former foreclos-
ures. All of this property, SO long
as the title remains in the county,
is of course relieved of taxation,
ass municipal owned stuff is tax
exempt. For that reason it is de-
sfrable to resell as much of this
property as possible and again get
it in to private ownership and
again on the tax roll to pay its
proportionate part of the expense
of government.
Some time ago sale was adj
vertlsed at which nearly all of the
then county owned real estate was
offered. But little was sold how
ever. The undesirability of the
property was the chief reason for
the lack of bidders probably but
no doubt the uncertainty of the
ntle under tax sale was an inn
portant factor. While legislation
enacted contemplates a clear title
under tax sale, supreme court de-
elslons leave the whole matter very
much up in the air and one buy
ng at such sales must go into
court at considerable expense with
IN action to quiet title before a
marketable title can be had. This
makes investment in tax title pro- i
perty very hazardous, especially in
new of the fact that the purchaser
aas no recourse for recovery from
me county in case his title proves
10 good.
All county property is sold at
public auction to the highest bid
yer after notice by advertisement
tr three weeks has been piven
md the sale must be for cash. No
y aie can be held except by order
u the commissioners who must be
atlsfled to offer the property at
ue minimum price agreed upon
ano that the best interests of the
0Ounty will be served by the sale.
real competition devel-
'pes IN the bidding but more often
aot because of the undesirability
! the property to be sold and the
of the title conveyed. |
1