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• The Tax Deed Sale Process At the October 22, 2013 meeting, the Board raised the concern that if the abatement costs were recovered through the non -ad valorem assessment process and the taxes and assessments are not paid then years could pass before the County is reimbursed while the property goes through the tax deed sale process. If a property owner does not pay his or her taxes and assessments by March 31St the taxes and assessments are considered delinquent and a 3% penalty is added on April 1St. If the taxes and assessments remain unpaid on May 1St, the parcel must be advertised in the newspaper and an advertising fee is added. If the taxes and assessments remain unpaid, the Indian River County Tax Collector's Office will sell a tax certificate by the end of May. If the tax certificate is sold, then the taxes and assessments owed to the County will be paid to the County. If there is no buyer for the tax certificate, then the tax certificate will be struck to the County, which means that the tax certificate is held by the County and the taxes and assessments remain unpaid. Unless the tax certificate is for homestead property and the value of the certificate, plus interest, does not exceed $250, then the tax certificate will be available to be purchased by potential buyers. If the tax certificate is purchased, the County will be paid the County taxes and assessments. If the tax certificate is not redeemed by the property owner, then two years from the date of delinquency, the property will be eligible for a tax deed application. The tax deed sale process can take up to a year. If no party buys the tax deed and it is held by an individual then the individual will obtain the property for his or her base bid. The base bid includes the payment of the County taxes and assessments. If the sale is a County tax deed, and no party buys the tax deed, the property will be placed on the list of lands available. The property will remain on the list of lands available for three years from the date of the tax deed sale. If the property is purchased from the list of lands available, then the County will be paid the County taxes and assessments. If the property is not purchased, then the property will escheat to the County and all of the County taxes and assessments will be eliminated. This entire process from when the tax certificate is issued until the property escheats to the County can take up to ten to eleven years. Randy Mink from the Polk County Attorney's Office stated that almost all of the nuisance abatement liens in Polk County are paid either through the payment of the assessment before the assessment is added as a tax roll assessment under Section 197.3632, Florida Statutes or through the payment of the taxes and assessment on the property before the taxes and assessments become delinquent on April 1St • The Proposed Indian River County Ordinance As noted above, the Board directed the County Attorney's Office to draft a nuisance abatement special assessment ordinance utilizing the uniform method for the levy, collection, and enforcement of non -ad valorem assessments as set forth in Section 197.3632, Florida Statutes. The Board requested that any such assessment require the approval of a supermajority of the Board. Finally, the Board requested that the nuisance abatement special assessment ordinance be drafted in such a way as to minimize any necessary changes to the Indian River County Code of Ordinances. F:\Community Development \CurDev\BCC\2014 BCCW uisanceAbatemcnt.doc 3 45