|
SB 83 - This act modifies provisions of law regarding the collection of special assessments and delinquent property taxes. Despite contrary provisions of law, currently the county collector in Boone County is authorized to add special assessments levied for community improvement districts to the annual real estate tax bills for the properties being benefitted by the district. Unpaid special assessments on the first day of January are considered delinquent and enforcement of the delinquent bills is governed by the laws concerning delinquent and back taxes. A lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as a tax upon real property by land tax sales. This act allows these provisions to apply to any county. (Section 67.1521) This act also changes the date that the county collector is required to return the delinquent tax lists and back tax books to the county commission from the first Monday in March to the second Monday in March and allows the collector to deliver an electronic copy of the back tax book. This act specifies that when property taxes are delinquent, if a person other than the owner or a lienholder pays the original property taxes plus interest, that payment will not invoke a lien on the property or person. Currently county collectors are authorized to use procedures for selling property when the property taxes are delinquent and when special assessments for Neighborhood Improvement Districts are delinquent. This act gives collectors the option to use these procedures when other types of special assessments are delinquent. When real estate is sold for delinquent taxes or other debt, if the property sells for a greater amount than the debt, the additional money is placed in a trust fund for the owners of the property for three years. This act specifies that if the funds are not called for as part of a redemption or collector's deed issuance, then they become part of the permanent school fund of the county. The act eliminates specific language authorizing fees of twenty-five and fifty cents that the county collector is authorized to collect when recording a certificate of purchase of land sold at a tax sale. The collector will continue to be authorized to receive the fee necessary to record the certificate of purchase. The act also eliminates language authorizing a one dollar and fifty cent fee for certain tax deeds. When a person who purchases property at a tax sale sues because the lands were improperly sold, this act will require the person to prove that the county collector knowingly and improperly sold the property. The act also removes a requirement that the county clerk witness the county collector sign the deed given to someone who purchases property at a tax sale. MIKE HAMMANN
|
