Crawford County Board
Crawford County
catching up on tax
delinquent properties
By Ted Pennekamp
The Crawford County Board unanimously approved to have the Crawford County Treasurer and Corporation Counsel proceed with the enforcement of the collection of tax liens and taking the tax title of 102 parcels in the county which are delinquent on paying their property taxes.
The action was taken following a presentation by Real Property Lister GiGi Collins and County Treasurer Deanne Lutz at the regular county board meeting Tuesday morning.
The county is attempting to get caught up regarding tax delinquent properties and the 102 parcels represents three year’s worth of delinquent property taxes. The total amount of delinquent property taxes in the county for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 is approximately $170,000.
From now on, the county will get up-to-date on delinquent property taxes each year.
Property owners with delinquent taxes on the 102 parcels now have about six to eight months to pay their taxes. If the taxes remain unpaid, the county takes over ownership of the property through the InREM foreclosure process.
In the past, the properties taken over by the county have been sold at auction at Kramer Auction Service of Prairie du Chien. Traditionally, the county has broken about even with the money taken in through the sale of the properties. Through the sales, the county does get a new property owner on the tax roll, however.
In other business, County Board Supervisor Kersten “Rocky” Rocksvold noted that it is the 40th anniversary of “Hidden Valleys Magazine” of which Crawford County is a part. “Hidden Valleys” is published each year and highlights the tourist attractions and businesses of nine counties.
“It is among the best advertising for Crawford County that we have,” said Rocksvold, a committee member on “Hidden Valleys Magazine.”
Rocksvold said that there is a nice, easy to use map of Crawford County in “Hidden Valleys Magazine” that visitors can use to plan their next trip. He also noted about 70,000 copies of the magazine are published each year and distributed to numerous locales throughout the region. “Hidden Valleys” is available at the Prairie du Chien Tourist Information Center as well as other area venues, said Rocksvold.
In further business, the board declared April 21 as Crawford County Government Days, which is a joint effort sponsored by Crawford County Government and the Crawford County American Legion to familiarize junior and senior high students from throughout the county with government proceedings at the county level.
