Beaufort County brought in $12.3 million in a daylong sale of property in the county’s annual delinquent tax sale Monday.
Real and personal property with unpaid tax bills totaling about $500,000 were included in this year’s auction.
Bidding begins at the delinquent amount plus taxes on the property due January 2006, often leaving the property sold at far less than its market value.
One Hilton Head Island property assessed by the county at $1.1 million, with $8,600 due in taxes, was sold at the tax sale Monday for $400,000.
More than 270 people filled council chambers in hopes of getting a deal, bidding on 368 items. Last year, the county sold 407 items for $8.4 million.
Collecting more money for fewer properties was surprising, said County Treasurer Joy Logan.
“The average (bid) was just astonishing,” Logan said.
The delinquent property owner has one year to pay off the taxes owed to the county, along with the 2006 tax bill and 3 percent quarterly interest paid to the winning bidder. More than 85 percent of properties are redeemed by the property owner in the year following a tax sale, Logan said.
The county also had 81 bidders for heirs property. Competitive bidders are asked not to bid on property when a relative is present to resolve the debt.
That number is likely to increase as more families become aware of that option, Logan said.
Property owners that have yet to resolve delinquent tax bills that resulted in bidding at the 2004 tax sale have until Wednesday to pay off the debt, Logan said.
Bill Sharp, a certified public accountant who works tax sales on the coast for third parties, said he made out well Monday with more than $1 million in successful bids.

Posted: 10|5|05 at 9:10 am. Filed under: US News.