Seven properties were auctioned off Wednesday at a property tax sale held at the GERS building on St. Thomas. Six were on St. Thomas. The seventh was on St. John.
The owners whose properties were sold Wednesday have one year to pay the taxes and reclaim the properties. Their delinquent tax bills date back 10 years or more.
Shawna Richards, spokesman at the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, said she was “unable” to provide information on who bought the properties or how much they paid.
The only St. John property auctioned off was 17.7 acres at San Souci and Guinea Gut owned by the heirs of H. and J. Thomas. The outstanding property tax and penalty amount listed on the Lieutenant Governor’s website was $187,939.
On St. Thomas, parcels owned by V.I. Enterprises Ltd. Flagship totaled 17 acres at Frenchman’s Bay. A total of $66,997 was owed in back property taxes and penalties.
Rudolfo Brown owned three parcels on St. Thomas. He owed $42,820 for a 4,644-square-foot lot on Commandant Gade, $84,470 for a 3,965-square-foot lot on Commandant Gade and $32,557 for three acres in Dorothea.
Hector Squaibro and others owed $60,618 for a three-bedroom house on a 10,700-square-foot lot in Honduras, St. Thomas.
T. Todman and Frydenhoj Corp. owed $46,140 for a 3.5-acre lot in Frydenhoj, St. Thomas.
On a Jan. 19 list published on the Lieutenant Governor’s website, there were two properties on St. John and 11 on St. Thomas. By Tuesday, the list was down to a total of eight. Richards said the owner of the eighth property, D&M, made arrangements to pay the bill and was off the list by Wednesday.
Richards said there were a “multitude” of reasons why the properties listed on Jan. 19 were off the list by Tuesday.
“The property owners came forward and made arrangements for payment,” she said.
Additionally, she said the properties may have been taken off the auction list because they were in probate.
Five St. Croix properties were auctioned off on Jan. 18.
These properties are a small portion of the more than 1,000 properties originally identified as having delinquent tax bills.
According to a press release from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, more property tax auctions are planned with the next one scheduled for March.
The Property Tax Division of the Lieutenant Governor’s Office reminded property owners 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. Property owners whose properties are in probate are also asked to file their cases with the Recorder of Deeds Office in their respective districts.
For more information, contact the Tax Collector’s Office at 776-8505 on St. Thomas, 776-6737 on St. John, 773-1105 in Christiansted or 772-0120 for the Frederiksted office.
