ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Under statute, government entities such as Seward County are required to publish lists of constituents who owe back taxes in the newspaper.

Those lists are printed regularly in large quantities, and many times, those who are delinquent on their taxes are put into a tax sale in an attempt to collect those taxes.

Seward County’s next tax sale is scheduled for 11 a.m. July 31 in Courtroom C at the Seward County Courthouse, and Treasurer Mary Rose said at this time, there are 28 parcels in that tax sale.

“Anybody from the time now until the day before, which is the 30th, can redeem their property,” she said. “At the time of the tax sale, we could drop down to 20 parcels.”

A list of parcels in the sale can be found on the county’s Web site at www.sewardcountyks.org, and Rose said this tax sale will mirror one the county conducted in December 2025.

“This one’s almost exactly the same amount of parcels we had in December,” she said. “I’m expecting about a two or three-hour sale.”

To take part in a tax sale, Rose said interested buyers must register with the treasurer’s office, adding bidding for the upcoming sale started July 8.

“If you want to be a bidder towards a parcel, you have to come in the office, fill out some paperwork, pick up the rules, the foreclosure announcement that has the rules and regulations,” she said. “We make sure you have no taxes due in Seward County. If you do not, you become an eligible bidder.”

At this point, Rose said bidders are put on the list for the properties they wish to buy and given a number to use when bidding at the sale.

“We ask that you show up 15 to 30 minutes early prior to the tax sale,” she said. “It will start exactly at 11. They then will do the bidding. You’re required to pay at the time. You cannot leave without paying in full for your property. There are additional fees added to that, and if you are paying with cash, it has to be exact.”

However, Rose said the new owner of the house does not have any rights or say until they have the deed in hand to that property.

“If you’re a person living in a house that is sold, you cannot go in there and say, ‘I just bought this house. You need to get your stuff out,’” she said. “They don’t have the right to remove anybody, demolish, clean up, do anything like that, sell it until their deed is in hand. They still have to do their due diligence if they choose to do an eviction or whatever they wish they do or do a contract with that person.”

Rose said getting the deed normally takes about 60 days from the time of the sale.

“It will be filed with Seward County in the deeds office,” she said. “They’ll get that, and then they can do what they wish to do from that point on.”

In Seward County, tax sales are done on properties that have at least three years of delinquent taxes, and Rose said this can be consecutive or non-consecutive. She added property taxes go with real estate, meaning new owners are responsible for those taxes even if the deed is changed.

Rose said other counties choose to do sales on abandoned property, but this proves to be difficult due to having to prove a property has been abandoned.

With the delinquency process, Rose said it takes about a year from the time a property is pulled for a sale until the sale actually happens.

“That is because they have to do all of the due diligence and follow the law,” she said. “There’s a lot that goes into a tax sale. They don’t just come in and pull the rug out from underneath you and be done. You get a lot of notifications by certified mail, by newspaper, not to mention you’ll get an initial letter from my office stating I’m getting ready to pull for the tax sale.”

It is at this point, Rose said, when constituents come to her office to figure out what can be done to keep a property out of tax sale, and she said once a property goes into a tax sale, it cannot be taken out until all of the taxes have been paid to the penny.

“It’s important when I send out those letters to say I’m pulling for the tax sale and you’re behind, let’s have this conversation,” she said. “We can try to work with you to redo partial payment. I don’t want anybody to lose their house. The county residents are good hard-working people. I hate to see this, but at the same time, it’s per statute.”

Rose emphasized there is help for those age 65 and older on Social Security.

“I strongly suggest they file for that before April 15 of every year to try to help those who are in their houses,” she said. “It is a reimbursement program. It helps you stay out of a tax sale. It helps you stay in your home. I think the State of Kansas is looking for some relief for our Social Security people and those on fixed incomes. It’s not just for that. It’s also for disabled.”

For the area, Rose said the amount of properties in Seward County tax sales is high, but she said much of this is due to not having tax sales for many years.

“We started that one in 2016 and were able to finish it in 2025,” she said. “We’ve really cleaned up the books a lot. I feel we’ve got a lot of the books cleaned. Going forward, I don’t anticipate having to do much. I always say you have to stop the bleeding. You can’t just put a band-aid on it. We’ve got to the point where we’ve stopped that bleeding rather than putting that band-aid on it.”

Rose said funding obtained through the tax sale  is distributed the county’s taxing entities.

“They have a special formula they use, and they work it out in District Court,” she said. “I don’t know how they come up with the formula. The attorneys in District Court, they do all of that.”

Rose said any extra money gotten for a parcel goes to District Court, and the former owner needs to redeem that money from District Court.

“They have so long to get that money from that,” she said. “Always check with District Court, and see if you have money left. You have to wait at least 90 days for that to see if it’s on the books and see if there is money owed. That person would get that money.”

Rose said the process of a tax sale begins with the treasurer’s office pulling any properties that are at least three years delinquent on taxes.

“Usually, we pull that in September,” she said. “In August, you’ll have your real estate published in the paper for delinquent. Anything over three years is going to produce a letter from the county treasurer and let you know you have these years that are open. You’re possibly going to go into a tax sale. We usually give you 15 to 20 days from the time of that letter.”

Rose said if nothing is done at that time, another extraction is done.

“That extraction then goes to the firm the county commissioners decided to utilize, which is a very reputable firm a lot of the other counties use as well,” she said. “From that process, we send it over to the appraiser, let them know it’s going into the tax sale, make sure we have our I’s dotted and our T’s crossed on that parcel.”

Rose said there are times when properties inside Liberal’s city limits go into a tax sale, and officials with the City of Liberal are working on keeping those properties up to code.

“A treasurer doesn’t have to do that,” she said. “A treasurer can just send it straight to tax sale, but I feel having that open relationship with GIS, the appraiser and the City of Liberal is essential to make sure everything is correct by the time we get to the end process.”

Other times, Rose said, a survey has not been done at the time of an appraisal, and GIS officials can look at this and make sure the property is correct on maps.

Having learned what needs to be done, Rose said she has likewise learned that not doing that actually creates more havoc in the end with a tax sale.

“Moving forward, those are the steps I’ve chosen to take,” she said. “GIS will look at it. The appraiser will look at it, send it over to the attorneys, and they’ll take the process from there. There’s several steps that happen. Publish it in the paper, certified mail letting them know it’s going to tax sale, letting them know the fees. They do a name search to see whoever had any interest in that property. Everybody who has had any interest in that property at any time is going to get certified mail letting them know.”

In addition to publication and notification requirements, Rose said a title search is done to make sure everything is correct there.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on until you get to the finish line,” she said.

Rose is somewhat new to tax sales, having helped with a few past ones, and while there is always room for improvement, she feels she has learned a lot thus far.

“I learned firsthand to make sure the appraiser, GIS and the City of Liberal are aware of what’s going into the tax sale,” she said. “I learned also about keeping track of everything, being very detailed on everything is essential. When we were doing the bids, we would tally sheet who bid what.”

Initially, Rose said notifying taxpayers in 2024 of properties being pulled for sale was frowned upon, but despite this, she felt it was her due diligence. She would also find out later it was actually a requirement.

“I felt it was right in my heart, and it ended up to be it wasn’t just right in my heart,” she said. “It’s part of the duty as well.”

Rose said a tax sale has to be a collaboration between county commissioners, the county attorney, the sheriff and the county treasurer.

“There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that have to come together,” she said. “You have to remember when it comes to the proceeding, the case is Seward County Commissioners versus that taxpayer. The commissioners in whole have to be on board, and the treasurer has to be on board. It has to be a collaboration from all of them to do that.”

Rose said an open line of communication has to be maintained between the people who are part of the puzzle.

Overall, Rose said she feels tax sales are a very effective method of collecting back taxes.

“Right now, property taxes are at the top of the talk, and you’ve got books with more money poured into them trying to collect them,” she said. “You’ve got warrants. In the beginning, it doesn’t look like it’s effective, but in the end, it’s stopped that bleeding.”

In addition to stopping the bleeding, Rose said tax sales also get properties back on tax rolls.

“In the end, we know whatever taxes we collect are distributed out to the entities that are on the tax roll,” she said. “That’s money they get, which helps the taxpayer, and it’s a domino effect. They pay their taxes. It helps the taxing entities. Maybe it’ll help lower the tax levy. Putting more on the tax roll, collecting that is always a good thing, and I think that’s the successful part of a tax sale.”