By Ken Lay
Knox County held its annual tax sale early last week.
The final numbers weren’t in by press time, but Knox County Trustee Justin Biggs couldn’t have been happier.
“The thing that’s the most exciting to me is that we’ve got these properties back on the tax rolls in Knox County,” Biggs said after Tax Sale 25 brought in record numbers. “We thought Tax Sale 24 was good, but this one is even better.
“It’s gotten better every year. Some of these properties have been delinquent for seven or eight years, and some of it, nobody has claimed. On some of it, you have heirs, and that’s unfortunate.”
The tax sale is a last resort for Knox County to recover delinquent taxes.
“Tax sales are an important part of the delinquent tax collection process to help return properties to productive use while ensuring fairness to taxpayers,” Biggs said.
Biggs and Knox County Clerk and Master Scott Griswold rotated as auctioneers at the auction, which was held Tuesday at the Knoxville Expo Center’s Grande Event Center. Together the duo combined to sell close to 200 delinquent parcels on a day where bidding got fast and furious at times as people with deep pockets placed bids on delinquent properties.
“When Scott and I rotated, that helped a lot,” Biggs said.
The event, which is held annually to collect outstanding tax debt, has gotten bigger every year, and Biggs noted that the county has revolutionized tax auctions.
“Our tax sale in Knox County has set the standards for tax sales in Tennessee,” he said.
Biggs said the final numbers from the event will be available this week.
