Leelanau County treasurer Vicki Kilway posted "No Trespassing - Keep Out" signs May 22 on six properties that were the subject of tax foreclosure proceedings this year - a record number.

Two of the "tax parcels" were part of a Superfund site now being cleaned up by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

All six of the properties are now owned by Leelanau County because no one has paid taxes on the properties for the past three years. One property is a vacant lot in Bingham Township; another is an abandoned mobile home and lot in the Village of Northport; yet another is an “undivided half interest” in a vacant parcel in Empire Township – meaning that the county is now a half-owner of that parcel.

And the sixth is the residence of an older couple in Elmwood Township.

“Posting tax foreclosure notices is the only part of this job that I absolutely hate doing,” the treasurer said. “It’s especially hard if you have to explain to someone who’s fallen on hard times that they’re going to lose the home they’re living in. In those cases, I do everything in my power to make sure that every remedy is considered before they’re ordered out and their property is sold,” Kilway said.

Fortunately, Kilway has had to face only one such case so far. Last year, for example, there were no tax foreclosure actions whatsoever. In fact, since 1999 when state law allowed counties to conduct tax foreclosure proceedings, Leelanau County has only conducted tax forfeitures on two properties – easements on two vacant, unbuidable parcels, in 2006.

The six tax foreclosures this year are unprecedented, Kilway said. The properties are slated to be sold on Aug. 1 during a public land auction being organized by the treasurers of six contiguous northwest lower Michigan counties, at the Days Inn in Manistee.

“Maybe we’ll be able to do something for the couple in Elmwood Township before then,” Kilway said. “But it’s likely that a lot of properties will be sold on Aug. 1. I and other treasurers have certainly been getting a lot of inquiries and phone calls about them.”

Kilway speculated that once people learn more about the Superfund site in Elmwood Township, however, it won’t sell.

“When more people find out that the EPA has liens on that property, I expect any interest in buying that one will dry up,” Kilway said. “But some of the other properties could end up being a pretty good deal for someone.”

Under Public Act 123 of 1999, the county is empowered to take ownership of tax foreclosed properties. In the four cases not including the Superfund site, delinquent 2005 taxes range from $929 to $5,021. At the Aug,1 auction, however, minimum bids on the properties must include payment of all delinquent taxes through 2008.

More information on the tax foreclosure process and the sale of forfeited properties may be obtained by phoning the Leelanau County treasurer’s office at 256-9838.