Delinquent property tax sale held

By Charlotte Underwood   

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – The county held its annual delinquent property tax sale Friday morning. A crowd attended the auction, which was held for the first time at the Jacksboro Middle School rather than the courthouse due to COVID-19 restrictions on that many people being in the courtroom. 

Around 110 properties were auctioned off from the 2017 and 2018 tax years. The county didn’t hold a sale last year during the pandemic, resulting in a large number of properties being auctioned on Friday.  According to Campbell County Clerk and Master Dennis Potter, the total collected was $404,822.36.

Properties had to at least receive a minimum bid representing the overdue taxes.

The county gets the tax amount owed on the property and if it sells for more than what is owed on taxes, the property owner gets those funds.

“If there is an overbid, we get the money back in the hands of the people who owned the property,” Potter said, adding that even if the property sold on Friday, property owners would still have a year grace period to redeem their property.

Of the 110 properties, five did not receive a bid. Those will go back to the county, which will put them out for bid again. 

“That will go through the mayor’s office, but those properties will be up for sale again,” Potter said.

According to Potter, a great deal of behind the scenes work goes into holding the delinquent property tax sale.

“It’s a lot of time and paper work. My staff did an amazing job with this big sale,” Potter said.

Potter also said he wanted to thank Campbell County Director of Schools Jennifer Fields, as well as Jacksboro Middle School Principal Gretchen Thomas for the use of the school for the auction.

“We really appreciate the use of the building so we can keep everyone safe and social distanced,” Potter said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 07/31/2021-10AM)