Everybody’s talking about being stuck in last week’s snowstorms, but did you know that the state land commissioner’s regular property auctions for redeeming unpaid back taxes have been frozen for a year?
Nikki Heck, director of public affairs for the Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, mentioned the COVID-related auction moratorium recently while discussing public relations possibilities and pitfalls at the Super Bowl.
She didn’t mention that her boss has the perfect name for a commissioner of state lands, but we will: He’s Tommy Land.
“You mentioned you were interested in our auctions that did not happen in 2020 and for at least half of 2021” as it stands now, Heck wrote in her email. “These two years in total represent about 28,000 parcels statewide that would have been sold at auction.”
Far fewer auctions would have actually taken place, she noted. “Many would (and will) have been redeemed.” Her office had no tax amounts available for the 28,000 parcels, “but I can tell you that in 2019 we sold about 1,300 parcels representing over $1.2 million in taxes.”
There’s no word on when auctions may resume. They, like so many other events lost to the pandemic, are expected to re-emerge as the virus risk declines.
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