BLOOMINGTON — If you’ve ever thought about building a home at Spin Lake in rural Danvers, you may have the opportunity of a lifetime.

McLean County is having its annual tax deed sale of properties delinquent on their property taxes since 2009 or before. Sealed bids must be received by the end of the business day Friday. 

It’s the largest sale in recent memory — about 40 parcels. Usually, fewer than 20 properties are involved.

Several of them are at Spin Lake, a private subdivision west of Danvers that features a man-made lake and about 75 homes. Many of the Spin Lake lots in the sale are an acre or more.

The minimum bid for each of the parcels is only $631. Properties go to the highest bidder.

Other properties in the sale, including a vacant lot on Hinshaw Avenue in Bloomington, have a minimum bid of only $481. Those properties were offered at a previous sale and didn’t sell, said Bill Krieger, an auction sale manager at Joseph E. Meyer Associates, the company hired by McLean County to create and operate the delinquent real estate tax liquidation program.

“It helps recover the expenses of operating the program,” Krieger said.

When the properties are purchased, they also return to the tax rolls, said McLean County Treasurer Rebecca McNeil.

“This program has significantly reduced the number of parcels with unpaid taxes,” she said.

The successful buyer in the auction is not responsible for back property taxes — only future ones.

But that likely won’t be the only costs associated with making the property livable.

Joe Dehn, president of the Spin Lake Association board of directors, said the Spin Lake properties on Pawnee Lane are undeveloped, in a wooded area without road access. Before someone could build, the land would have to be cleared, a road built and a septic tank installed — all costs that fall on the shoulders of the property owner.

Mary Raney, treasurer of the association, said the group pays to have water service taken to the edge of the property. The association operates a pump house connected to a well that provides water to the subdivision. The homeowner has to pay to have that line taken to the house.

There’s also association fees of $120 a year and an annual road fee of $212 a year for properties with houses; $112 a year for properties without houses. The road fee covers the road’s upkeep after it’s been built.

But for a person who wants to live in a rural area and can make a financial investment, it could be a good deal.

“It’s a beautiful area and a great place to live,” Dehn said of the Spin Lake subdivision.

Krieger said about 20 percent of the properties in the yearly sale go for minimum bid; another 20 percent are never purchased.

Often, those not purchased are just strips of vacant land. In this year’s sale, for instance, there’s a 40-by-10-foot strip of land off Center Street in Gridley and a 5-by-103-foot vacant strip on Madison Street in Bloomington. 

Some properties, like one at 1309 N. Morris Ave., Bloomington, and at 709 E. Kleinbeck St. in Bellflower, include a house.

Bidder’s packets and sale catalogs are available at McNeil’s office in Room 101 on the mezzanine at the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St., Bloomington, or online at www.mcleancountyil.gov under the treasurer’s office tab. Interested bidders also can call the tax agent’s office at 800-248-2850 or go to www.iltaxsale.com for more information.

---

Properties redeemed or sold for taxes

Chart shows the number of properties sold to McLean County, as a trustee for taxing bodies, after property owners became delinquent on their property taxes and no tax buyers paid the outstanding taxes during the annual November tax sale. Some of the properties were redeemed by owners who paid an 18 percent interest rate, while others ended up in the tax deed sale.

Tax/sale year   Sold to county   Owner redeemed   In tax deed sale

2004/2005         7                         4                             3

2005/2006         21                      16                            5

2006/2007         3                        3                              0

2007/2008         12                      9                              3

2008/2009         2                        2                              0

2009/2010         86                      55                           31

2010/2011         22                      8                             14*

2011/2012         68                     15                            53*

*These properties can still be redeemed by property owners until the tax deed sales in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Source: McLean County Treasurer Rebecca McNeil