KINGSTON – The number and value of properties in foreclosure in Ulster County is increasing. The 2015 public auction list includes 281 properties totaling some $7 million in unpaid taxes. The increase in the number of properties has risen only four percent, but there is a dramatic increase in the dollar amount of unpaid taxes over 2014, County Comptroller Elliott Auerbach noted.
Since last year’s initial publication, the number of foreclosed properties has increased by only 11. Three towns, Wawarsing with 39, Saugerties with 38, and Ulster, with 32, account for 39 percent of all properties listed. The Town of Hardenburgh and Village of New Paltz are without foreclosed parcels.
The financial impact has increased by over 40 percent, though, with the total unpaid taxes, interest and penalties rising from over $4.8 million to $6.99 million with 45 percent of the total owed attributed to two towns – Ulster with some $2 million and Saugerties with just under $1.2 million.
“We are once against at that time of year when the county is faced with the unenviable task of auctioning off properties to meet tax obligations,” said Auerbach. “It is not only time to help those folks who have already fallen behind but to begin to advocate for changing state law to increase opportunities for property owners to remain, reduce their tax obligations, and most importantly, avoid foreclosure.”
