County auctions dozens of properties

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors auctioned dozens of taxdeeded properties during a special session Monday.

The state took over the 70 parcels after the previous owners defaulted on their taxes, and most were sold at the auction, which drew 16 bidders. A majority were sold for a few hundred dollars, and the new owners do not have to pay the back taxes owed on the land. A handful received no bids.

Most of the 70 parcels are in four subdivisions; El Camino Del Sol and Sun Country Acres in Dateland, and New Tacna Townsite and Citrus Park in the Tacna area.

The highest-netting property was a 1.1-acre residential property in Desert Foothills Estates, which sold for over $2,000. The owner, listed as Citizens Title & TR AS TR, owed the most taxes of any of the former landholders at $21,000.

The auction netted a total of $35,750, which will go into the county’s general fund, county treasurer Angela Pancrazi Moreno said.

At the same meeting, the board received no bids for five countyowned excess properties along 40th Street between Foothills Boulevard and Avenue 12E.

The county attempted to auction off all five of the properties in November 2010, but no valid bids were made. Last May the board tried to auction off one, and again there were no bids.

The minimum bids were required by state law to be set at 90 percent of the appraised value, which ranged from $28,000 to $64,000.