Tax certificate sale returns millions to county budgets

Tax collector James Harris said last week’s tax certificate sale was very successful and he managed to sell almost all of the unpaid tax certificates this year. The county was looking at a record number of tax certificates up for sale this year; there were over 2400 tax certificates for sale this year, totaling almost 2.9 million in unpaid taxes. Almost all of the certificates were purchased, allowing local taxing authorities to recoup nearly all of the tax revenue. The Franklin County commission alone recouped nearly 1.2 million dollars in unpaid taxes, the school district will receive about the same. The city of Carrabelle will get nearly 256 thousand because of the sale and the city of Apalachicola nearly 150 thousand. Harris said the county decision to advertise the tax certificate sale in nearby cities led to the sale’s success. He said the newspaper ads brought in 30 new investors who helped buy up the certificates. There are about 30 thousand dollars in unsold tax certificates still available; people interested in learning more about them should contact the tax collectors office.