Brick Tax Sale Seeks $2.6M in Unpaid Debt

Brick will sell more than $2.6 million in tax debt at its annual tax sale, set for March 19.

In all, liens will be sold against 1,525 tax accounts which owe a collective debt of $2,693,022.91 to the township as well as the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority.

In the annual sale, bidders vie to buy up tax debt in a "Dutch auction" round of public bidding. Once a buyer successfully bids down an interest rate which the delinquent taxpayer will be charged, the lienholder satisfies the tax debt with the township immediately and begins a two-year waiting game before they are allowed to initiate foreclosure proceedings.

If the resident or business owner pays the debt, plus interest and fees to the lienholder, before the two year deadline, they're off the foreclosure hook.

Topping this year's list of heavy hitters in the tax sale list is Grandin Partnership, which owns the property at 1253 Cedar Bridge Avenue. The owner owes $65,921.53 in unpaid tax debt.

Other large debts include a $42,584 tax bill owed by Jersey Shore Marina and Boat Sales on Route 70; $40,844 owed by 373 Route 35 South, LLC on the barrier island; and $29,358 owed in taxes and MUA fees by Offshore Racing Association for a property on Route 70.

Some residential properties also had significant delinquent tax debt, including an Island Drive home behind more than $26,000.

Some have feared that a greater number of residents will be delinquent on their taxes this year in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, but Business Administrator Scott Pezarras said there wasn't a significant increase in the number of delinquent accounts in the final quarter of 2012.

"We were fairly aggressive in chasing delinquents in the last 3 weeks of the year," he said in an e-mail to Brick Patch.