Bossier Sheriff’s Office will hold its annual Property Tax Sale on Tuesday, June 5, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., for properties that have unpaid 2017 property taxes.
The sale is for approximately 354 assessments of land, commercial and residential properties that have unpaid ad valorem property taxes for 2017. Asst. Chief David Miller of the Bossier Sheriff’s Office said these are immovable properties, such as raw land and houses.
Since 2008, the number of assessments that go to the tax sale have been less than .25% (1/4 of 1 percent), and it’s been fairly consistent over the past 10 years.
“We start out with 60,000 assessments,” he said. “Historically, Bossier Parish has been really low in the amount of properties that we’ve carried to sale…350 sounds like a lot, but in the grand scheme it’s actually not that many.”
The purpose of the tax sale is to clean up loose ends, Miller said.
“For whatever reason, some people just can’t pay. Some people are in a bind, there might have been a death or some just can’t pay it,” he said. “This is our way to finalize collections.”
Preparation for the sale begins long before the properties go up for sale.
“The sheriff, by statute, is the ex-officio tax collector for the parish for ad valorem tax,” Miller explained. “The [tax] assessor actually values the properties, whether it’s commercial, residential or moveables. They work on that until about September/October.”
At that point, they get it approved through the Louisiana Tax Commission in Baton Rouge. Once approved, it’s forwarded to the Bossier Sheriff’s Office for collection.
“That’s when we print out our notices and send them out in November,” Miller said. “The tax sale is a culmination of that effort to collect those taxes.”
The Tax Sale is open to the public and will be held online only. To register and bid, go to www.civicsource.com, and click on “Sign In” to register. The bidding process is explained upon registration.
Potential buyers are encouraged to do their research before they bid on the listed properties.
“The ones that do this year in and year out know what to go look at, where the property is and what it is,” Miller added.
Online payments at www.bossiersheriff.com are accepted through noon Tuesday, but payments can still be made in person by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Bossier Parish Courthouse or any of the Sheriff’s Office substations.
The monies collected then are distributed to a number of various public agencies. Miller said there are about 25 different agencies they collect for, with Bossier Parish Schools being the largest recipient of money.
Property owners of these unpaid assessments were given until 4:30 p.m. Monday, June 4, to have their property removed from the Tax Sale list. Miller said once their properties are sold, the owners have the option to redeem it up to three years through the Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s cleaning up loose ends, but they still have an out,” Miller said.
For further information or payment options, call the Bossier Sheriff’s Office Property Tax Department at (318) 965-3400.
Original article found here: http://bossierpress.com/annual-property-tax-sale-to-be-held-tuesday/