Top 10 delinquent properties in Travis County
A southeast Austin vacant lot and another just down the road are owned, according to county records, by Colton Bluff LLC. With a tax bill of almost $55,000 the real estate investment company found itself at the top of a list of delinquent property owners. It was revealed Tuesday morning by county assessor-collector Bruce Elfant.
"Basically if people call us and try to work with us, they are not going to end up on this list. The vast majority of the people on the list are people we have not heard from at all."
Elfant's top 10 list includes; the owners of a Harmon Ave apartment complex. Tuesday afternoon- the company worked out a payment plan for the $54,000 that was owed.
The list also includes a professional building near the Lakeway Regional Medical Center. The bill for that location totals $40,000. In clarification, the tax bill is attached to a company called Aqua Land Lakeway Medical development and not to the Hospital.
Elfant says his original list had several different names on it but people started paying up after learning about his news conference.
"There are a number of excuses, business deals that are pending, people who have forgotten, people who are probably playing us a little bit, so it ran the gambit of the excuses we heard,” said Elfant.
There's currently about 18,000 property owners who haven't paid their tax bill. The amount owed to the county totals a little more than $36 million.
For those who are not willing to pay, county officials say they are willing to find someone who will pay by putting the property up for auction. The courthouse property auction attracted a large group Tuesday morning. Among those making a bid was Joan Harkins. It was her first auction.
"So I bought a property for $237,000 and I’m supposed to flip it for at least 30% … I think I can do it,” said Harkins.
There are about 100 properties currently in Travis County with delinquent tax judgments. Elfant said he doesn’t want to use a big stick to get the bills paid, but if they are not paid, Elfant was clear the properties will end up at the auction and money will be collected for the 111 jurisdictions that rely on the tax.
In an update Tuesday afternoon, Managers at the Travis County Tax Office clarified the status of one of the companies on the top 10 list of delinquent property owners.it was determined that Solarbridge Technologies made a payment on March 28, 2016. The money was applied to a different property owned by the parent company, Sun Power. Officials with the county stated their earlier attempts to Solarbridge went unanswered until after FOX7 went to the company’s North Austin office. Funds were transferred to the property located at 9229 Waterford Centre Blvd and the County now considered the account to be paid in full.
The following is a statement from Colton Bluff LLC:
Travis County sent FOX 7 the following press release: