Ulster County looks to get 151 defaulted properties back on the tax rolls at public auction April 13 and in the process stock the county coffers by collecting at least a portion of overdue taxes.
The default number is up 28 percent over last year, but in the words of county Comptroller Elliott Auerbach, “pales in comparison to 1998 when there were 712 and 2000 when there were 466.”
The comptroller offered no reasons for the 1998 and 2000 spikes, but the county was buffeted at the time by IBM shuttering its Ulster facilities.
The total outstanding dollars rose from just under $2 million last year to better than $2.4 million in 2011. But Auerbach offered an asterisk:
“While we show an increase from $1,959,195.39 in 2010 to $2,448,034.45 in 2011, two properties ”“ over $672,000 ”“ account for 27 percent of the total,” he said in a statement.
The town of Wawarsing leads the list by numbers of parcels with 24 compared with last year”™s 26; Shandaken has17 properties facing the auctioneer”™s gavel. The towns of Saugerties and Ulster have 16 each.
The towns of Woodstock and Hardenburgh, repeating their 2010 performances, have no properties at the auction; neither do the town of Denning and the village of New Paltz.
The foreclosure process is legendary for last-minute reprieves: funds found and checks dashed off at the last minute to save the house.
Said Auerbach: “As in past years, I expect that a good portion of these properties will be redeemed before April”™s auction.”
The town of Saugerties, which grew from 11 foreclosed properties last year to 16 this year tops the list of total outstanding dollars: $588,370.03, Auerbach reported. The town of Saugerties figure does not include village of Saugerties parcels, one of which on Quarry Road accounts for $442,112.93, the biggest single default. The second largest single parcel on the list is in the town of Kingston ”“ its only entry on the list ”“ on Woods Road for $229,913.38.
The public auction will be held on the Stone Ridge Campus of SUNY Ulster in Vanderlyn Hall on Wednesday, April 13, at 9:30 a.m.
The complete listing of properties can be found on the Ulster County website at www.ulstercountyny.gov/finance/2011 Public Auction Brochure.pdf.
