The Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Division of Property Tax, is in the final stages of preparing for the sale of properties that are in delinquent property tax payment status of 10 or more years. The division has notified the owners of the properties slated for the first round of auctions, which are scheduled for Jan. 18-19, 2012, on St. Croix and Jan. 25-26 in the St. Thomas-St. John district, according to a press release from the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. In both districts, the auctions will be held at the Division of Personnel’s offices.
A combination of 25 commercial and residential properties per district will be sold at the January auctions. In accordance with Virgin Islands Code Title 33, the Division of Property Tax has served the affected property owners with notice of the attachment and sale. The names of the property owners, parcel number and physical address of the properties will also be published in the territory’s newspapers as required by law.
Over 1,000 parcels are currently in delinquent payment status of 10 or more years, with a total of $8,887,633 owed to the government of the Virgin Islands. Because of the volume of delinquent properties, the property sales are expected to take place over several months.
Property owners who have been identified as delinquent are strongly advised to contact the Tax Collector’s Office in their respective district to make arrangements for payment in order to avoid the sale of their properties. The Tax Collector’s Office can be reached at 776-8505 on St. Thomas, 776-6737 on St. John, 773-1105 in Christiansted or 772-0120 for the Frederiksted office.
An updated list of the properties that have been attached in preparation for sale can be viewed at www.ltg.gov.vi.
