There was some updated information from the treasurer (Susan Quick) today. According to the auditor (Terry Sercer) the interest charged on overdue taxes is to be simple interest. Based on this change, many of the calculations in the previous articles on this site are inaccurate.

I also obtained a copy of the report on the last Tax Foreclosure Sale that was held January 27th 2010. The sale brought in $8,087.00 but cost $13,322.50 for a total loss of $5,235.50. However,  an additional $68,342.34 was collected in taxes right before the sale. This means that even though money was lost on the sale itself, there were considerable funds collected from people who went ahead and paid taxes so the property wouldn’t be sold.

The $13,332.50 consists of the following charges:

• $6768.00 – Justin Meeks, Attorney
• $720.00 – Gilbert Gregory, Guardian Ad Litem
• $2,680.00 – Linn County Abstract Co.
• $2,656.50 – Tribune
• $498.00 – District Court Fees

Today Susan Quick said that she had rectified the situation with the 2005 taxes mentioned at the bottom of the previous article, by paying an additional $375.60 in interest and the ad fee of $17. Unfortunately, because of the way the software works, it won’t show up in the online tax website.

When I dropped by the court house this afternoon, Terry Sercer was sitting at a desk conducting the audit.