SWEETWATER COUNTY — The Sweetwater County property tax sale is taking place Thursday, and there are currently over 150 properties included in the sale.
The county recovers the loss of uncollected property tax revenue at the annual tax sale. The county sells its tax lien on the property to attending purchasers for the amount of taxes, interest and cost associated with the sale.
However, Sweetwater County Treasurer Mark Cowan said they hope to eliminate a few properties from this list before the sale as a few properties owned by veterans have appeared on the list.
“This morning we recognized that there were a few properties in the sale that should not be,” he said.
A handful of veterans previously applied for the veteran exemption, and they received 100% exemption on their property taxes. This year, when property taxes increased, the exemption didn’t cover the full amount, Cowan explained to the Sweetwater County commissioners.
“So there are a few of these properties that have maybe $9 to $30 that wasn’t covered by the exemption. Then there were penalties and a $20 advertising fee that was added onto those. So this morning I’d like to ask you to waive those penalties and advertising fee on the ones that we identify today,” Cowan said.
He said the total amount is expected to be around $68. The commissioners unanimously approved waiving those penalties and advertising fees, and Cowan offered to pay the balance on the property tax bills.
“I will personally pay the remaining balances on those veterans’ property tax bills so that we don’t sell those in the tax sale,” he said.
Cowan said they started the tax sale process this year with over 240 properties. The county contacted everybody on the tax sale list three times, and they all got a letter in the mail in an attempt to get them to pay their property taxes. The properties remaining on the list failed to communicate with the county or pay their taxes.
The reason for the tax sale is because the property taxes are levied, so the schools and cities in the county budget those taxes and that’s how they operate.
“So we have to collect those taxes so the services can be provided in our community,” Cowan said. “By doing the tax sale, we can provide those payments to those entities and they can continue working properly.”
The updated list of properties, as of August 6, can be found here. Cowan said payments can be made up until noon Wednesday to avoid the taxes being sold. The Sweetwater County tax sale is scheduled for August 8 at 9:00 a.m., check-in at 8 a.m. The sale will be held at the Western Wyoming College Green River Campus in the John Wesley Powell room.
Online Vehicle Registration
Cowan also updated the commissioners on the online vehicle registration process that is now allowed in Wyoming. He said House Bill 23 was introduced to the Wyoming Legislature this year, which was passed and signed by Governor Mark Gordon, and allows counties across the state to issue an electronic vehicle registration certificate. Furthermore, the online registration allows for a 30-day grace period for residents to receive their stickers in the mail and place them on their vehicles.
“That’s pretty exciting in Sweetwater County especially because now you can get online and register your vehicle 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and be legal as soon as you’re done with that registration process. You’ll receive a receipt that says you followed the processes and that you have 30 days to place that registration sticker on your vehicle,” he said.
Cowan encourages county residents to avoid traveling across the county to stand in line and use their whole day to do their registration, and instead do it online. He also noted that the county just recently changed their credit card vendor which removes the 2.4% fee when using a debit card. Instead, there is now a flat fee of $3.95 when using a debit card, however, the 2.4% fee still remains when using a credit card. People can also play with an electronic check with a $1 fee.
Correction: This article was updated to include the list of property taxes to be included in the sale and information about where the tax sale will be.
