Chenango County appears to have sold all 48 tax-delinquent properties at its annual tax sale last week.
Bids were opened Thursday.
``It looks good, but we won't know for sure for a couple of weeks,'' Donald MacIntosh, assistant property tax director, said Monday.
Unlike Otsego County, which holds a public auction to sell the real estate it acquires for back taxes, Chenango County accepts sealed bids for its properties.
``Here, your first bid should be a good one,'' MacIntosh said.
The annual sale is supervised by the county's Treasurer's Office, and Treasurer William Evans serves as Real Property Tax director.
This year, a firm that explores for natural gas bid on two large parcels included in the sale, MacIntosh said.
Nornew Inc., of Houston, which has a field office in Jamestown, sought but did not win properties in Plymouth and Afton.
"They were both about 70 acres,'' MacIntosh said.
Nornew is among several natural-gas firms seeking leases from local property owners, who may be sitting on a rich deposit of gas embedded in shale.
MacIntosh said he was not aware of other gas companies bidding for properties, although the county has no way of knowing if individuals were bidding for these firms.
This year, the county did sell some occupied dwellings, he said.
"We had a few, but that's something we let the new owner deal with,'' he said.
New owners may continue to rent to tenants or seek to evict them.
MacIntosh said the sales will be scrutinized by the county's Finance Committee and may be finalized by the Chenango County Board of Supervisors at its Aug. 11 meeting.
On the same day, Otsego County will be holding its annual tax auction at the county Highway Department garage, 20 Linden Ave., Cooperstown.
The sale starts at 10 a.m. and, according to the county's website, includes about 26 properties, including a nearly 48-acre parcel in Unadilla.
More information is available at www.otsegocounty.com/depts/rps/taxsale/taxsale.asp.
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