Because of uncertainty at the state level, a Chautauqua County leader believes there will not be a property tax auction in 2024.

During the legislature’s Audit and Control Committee meeting, Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, gave an update on the process of property tax foreclosures.

“Things are changing every day. There are state requirements, there are federal requirements, so it’s not business as usual,” he said. “There was a process in place. There were rules to follow. The past practice, it was fairly straightforward and simple.”

Now, according to Scudder, it’s gotten more complicated. “As far as the timing of this year’s pending foreclosures – and some of this is my opinion – I don’t see it happening this year. It will probably get put into next year’s foreclosure process, if we have a foreclosure next year. So I would at this point believe that we’ll be combining the 2024 and 2025 foreclosures,” he said.

Scudder noted the state has given counties some flexibility with payment plans for property taxes. “The counties are being allowed to pass local laws as far as how we would collect the taxes … but even that hasn’t been nailed down. It’s hard to come up with a plan when we don’t know what all the rules are,” he said.

Scudder noted that in the past if someone didn’t pay property taxes for two years, the county would begin the foreclosure process. “If you were past due on your taxes, in January you got a notice. You received another notice in the middle of April. You had an opportunity to pay it after April. … A foreclosure auction date was set and you had up until the night before to come in and redeem your property,” he said.

Now those steps are being altered. “All that is going away,” he said.

On May 25, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Tyler v. Hennepin County, ruled it is unconstitutional for municipalities to unilaterally retain the surplus monies generated from tax lien foreclosure sales.

Scudder said Chautauqua County didn’t actually make money on tax foreclosures, but he doesn’t want to see the county lose funds in the process as well. He said once the state and federal regulations are in place, the county will need to finalize its rules before a tax auction is held.

Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, R-Ellery, thanked Scudder for working on this. “We’re in a quandary and we have a lot of work to do. I trust with Legislator Scudder’s guidance and assistance that the county will be proceeding as expeditiously as we can,” he said.