Property auctioned off at Cape Girardeau County tax sale

Nineteen properties owned by those not paying real estate taxes were auctioned off Monday morning during a tax sale inside the Cape Girardeau County administrative building.

Each year the Cape Girardeau County Collector's office auctions off land for which the owners are at least two years delinquent in paying their real estate taxes. While 500 owed back taxes in April, that number had dwindled from 110 Friday morning to 36 by the start of the business day Monday.

County collector Diane Diebold said the main reason for the last-minute payments is procrastination.

"For some reason people just wait until the end ..." Diebold said.

Even though the parcels were sold during the auction the owner has up to one year to pay up and retain the property. If the owner redeems the land he or she must pay the sale land price plus interest to the person who purchased the property during the auction. The interest is 10 percent the first year and 8 percent on any other year.

Look for more on this story later at semissourian.com and in Tuesday's edition of the Southeast Missourian.

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