The Commissioner of State Lands will auction about 80 tax-delinquent parcels next month in the Wilson Lake Road area near Lakeside Country Golf Course.
The owner, Benton-based Stephens-Baker Development, was denied a sewer extension that would have serviced some of the undeveloped lots in 2016, when the city of Hot Springs' utility connection and extension policy limited utility access in the unincorporated area of its 145-square-mile service area.
The lots are outside the city limits but inside the city's planning area, land up to 1 mile beyond the corporate limits that's subject to the city's subdivision code.
The new policy that took effect in April lifted those restrictions, the product of an interlocal agreement the city and Garland County ratified earlier this year giving the unincorporated area equal access to connections and extensions in return for the county giving the city a per-capita share of revenue growth generated by the 0.50% sales tax the county levies in support of its general and solid waste funds.
The lots could have been serviced by the water main that runs down Wilson Lake Road, but the city's utility code won't grant water connections unless a wastewater disposal system is already in place.
The 80 parcels will be auctioned Sept. 2 at the Hot Springs Convention Center during the Land Commissioner's annual public auction of tax-delinquent lands in Garland County. More than 450 parcels are on the auction list. They can be viewed on the Land Commissioner's website, http://www.cosl.org.
According to a news release the Land Commissioner's office issued last week, the auction will be held at 10 a.m. in Rooms 102 and 103. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m.
"Since we were unable to hold public auctions in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, we are auctioning properties that were scheduled for sale last year," Commissioner of State Lands Tommy Land said in the release. "These are properties whose taxes have been delinquent since 2015."
Land said his office will auction two years' worth of properties at next year's auction.
"That will catch us up, so that we're current on all sales," he said.
Properties become delinquent when two years of real estate taxes are owed. County tax collectors attempt to collect amounts owed for another two years before referring tax-delinquent properties to the Land Commissioner. Title to tax-delinquent properties sold at auction isn't guaranteed by the Land Commissioner's office, as owners have 10 business days to redeem properties after they're sold at auction.
The Land Commissioner's office said Monday that $258,126.50 in real estate taxes are owed on the more than 450 parcels. According to the auction catalog, that amount includes more than $28,000 owed on the 80 parcels in the Wilson Lake Road area.
Real estate taxes primarily support local school districts. National Park College and the Garland County Library also benefit, as the quorum court levies small millages on their behalves. 2020 real estate and personal property taxes are due in October.