[HISTORY: Adopted by ordinance 6-14-1993. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Between the first of January and the first of July in each year
the City Clerk and collector shall make out and record, in a book
to be provided for that purpose, a list of lands and lots, returned
and remaining delinquent for taxes, describing such lands or lots
as the same are described in the tax books and said delinquent returns,
and charging them with the amount of delinquent taxes and naming the
years delinquent, separately stated, and in addition thereto a penalty
as herein provided, and shall certify the correctness thereof, with
the date the same was recorded, and sign the same himself, or deputy,
officially.
The City Clerk and collector shall proceed to collect the taxes
contained in such back tax book or recorded list of delinquent lands
and lots, and any person having an interest in said lands or lots
may redeem such tract or any part thereof from the City's lien
thereon by paying the taxes charged against said land in said "Back
Tax Book" with interest on the same as herein provided.
Whenever it shall appear to the Board of Aldermen that any tract
of land in said back tax book is not worth the amount of taxes, interest
and cost due thereon, or that the same would not sell for the amount
so charged, it shall be lawful for the Board of Aldermen to compromise
said taxes with the owner which shall have the effect to release said
land from the City's lien; it shall be the duty of the collector
to distribute to its various funds to which said taxes are due in
proportion as the amount received bears to the whole amount charged
against such tract or lot; provided, however, such compromise shall
only be made in cases where improvements have been destroyed, which
materially lower the value of the property, after the assessment is
made and before the taxes are collected.
When real estate is sold by the City Clerk and collector for
taxes for a greater amount than the debt or taxes and all costs, the
balance over shall be paid to the owner or owners of such land; if
such owner or owners cannot be found, then such surplus shall be paid
into the treasury to be credited to the general fund, to be held in
trust for 20 years for the owners or their legal representatives.
At the end of 20 years, if such fund shall not be called for, then
it shall become permanent funds of the City. The Board of Aldermen
shall require satisfactory proof of any claim before refunding the
money, and the City shall pay no interest to the claimant for any
such fund.
The City Clerk and collector shall be allowed a fee of 3% of
all sums collected which shall be taxes as costs and collected from
the party redeeming the property.
If any taxpayer shall fail or neglect to pay such tax when it
becomes due, then it shall be the duty of the collector to collect
and account for, as other taxes, an additional tax as penalty of 10%
on such tax delinquent for the preceding year and an additional annual
10% for taxes for each prior year; provided however, if taxes are
paid on land or lots delinquent for the preceding year at any time
prior to the sale thereof as in this chapter provided, the percent
of penalty shall not exceed 1Â 1/2% per month or fractional part
thereof or 18% annually.
All lands and lots on which taxes are delinquent and unpaid
shall be subject to sale to discharge the lien for said delinquent
and unpaid taxes as provided for in this ordinance on the fourth Monday
in August of each year, and it shall not be necessary to include the
name of the owner, mortgagee, or any other person or corporation claiming
an interest in or to any of said lands or lots in the notice of sale;
provided, however, delinquent taxes, with penalty and interest and
costs may be paid to the City Clerk and collector at any time before
property is sold therefor.
The City Clerk and collector shall cause a copy of such list
of delinquent lands and lots to be printed in some newspaper of general
circulation and published in the county for three consecutive weeks,
one insertion weekly, before such sale, the last insertion to be at
least 15 days prior to the fourth Monday in August. And it shall only
be necessary in the printed and published list to state in the aggregate
the amount of taxes, penalty, interest and cost by number, block,
addition, etc.; provided, however, that if a part or parts of any
40 acre tract or other legal subdivision or lot is assessed on the
tax books to two or more parties as owners thereof, then, as to such
land or lots, such list shall be prepared and separated. To such list
shall be attached and in like manner printed and published a notice
that so much of said lands and lots as may be necessary to discharge
the taxes, interest and charges which may be due thereon at the time
of sale will be sold at public auction at the Courthouse door of Lincoln
County, on the fourth Monday in August next thereafter, commencing
at 10 o'clock of said day and continuing from day to day until
all are offered. The City Clerk and collector shall, on or before
the date of sale, insert at the foot of such list on his record a
copy of such notice the name of the newspaper of the dates of insertion
of such notice in such newspaper. The expense of such printing shall
be paid by the purchaser or purchasers of the lands or lots sold and
shall not exceed the legal rate as is fixed by Section 493.030, RSMo.
1978, and shall be taxed as part of the costs of the sale of any land
or lot contained in such list and disposed of at such sale, and the
total cost of printing such notice shall be prorated against all such
lands or lots so sold or redeemed prior to any such sale.
On the day mentioned in the notice, the City Clerk and collector
shall commence the sale of such lands, and shall continue the same
from day to day until so much of each parcel assessed or belonging
to each person assessed, shall be sold as will pay the taxes, interest,
and charges thereon, or chargeable to such person in said county.
The person offering at said sale to pay the required sum of the least
quantity of any tract shall be considered the purchaser of such quantity;
provided, no bid shall be received from any person not a resident
of the State of Missouri, until such person shall file with the said
clerk and collector an agreement in writing consenting to the jurisdiction
of the Circuit Court of Lincoln County, and also filing with such
clerk and collector an appointment of some citizen of said county
as agent of said purchaser, and consenting that service of process
on such agent shall give such court jurisdiction to try to determine
any suit growing out of or connected with such sale for taxes. All
such written consents to jurisdiction and selective appointments shall
be preserved by the City Clerk collector and shall be binding upon
any person or corporation claiming under the person consenting to
jurisdiction and making the appointment herein referred to; providing
further that in the event of death, disability or refusal to act of
the person appointed agent of said non-resident purchaser the City
collector shall become the appointive agent of said non-resident purchaser.
If at the first offering of sale on any tract of land or lot
under the provisions of this ordinance no person shall bid therefor
a sum equal to the delinquent taxes thereon with interest, penalty
and costs, then the City Clerk and collector of the sale shall note
such fact in his record of sale and the City Clerk and collector shall
note a recital thereof in his record containing the list of delinquent
lands and lots, and said tracts of land or lots shall be again offered
for sale, at the next sale of delinquent land and lots as in this
ordinance provided, if such lands or lots be at such time delinquent,
taxes therefor, with interest, penalty and costs, then the clerk of
the sale shall note such fact upon his record of the sale and the
City Clerk and collector shall enter a recital of such fact in this
record book containing the list of delinquent lands and lots.
Whenever any lands have been or shall hereafter be offered for
sale for delinquent taxes, interest, penalty and costs by the clerk
and collector of the City for any two successive years and no person
shall have bid therefor a sum equal to the delinquent taxes thereon,
interest, penalty and costs provided by ordinance, then such City
Clerk and collector shall at the next regular tax sale of land for
delinquent taxes, sell same to the highest bidder, and certificates
of purchase shall issue as to such sale, but the purchaser of such
sales shall be entitled to the immediate issuance and delivery of
a Collector's deed. If any lands or lots are not sold at such
third offering, then the clerk and collector, in his discretion, need
not again advertise or offer such lands or lots for sale more often
than once every five years after the third offering of such lands
or lots, and such offering shall toll the operation of any applicable
statute of limitations. A purchaser at any sale subsequent to the
third offering of any land or lots shall be entitled to the immediate
issuance and delivery of a collector's deed and there shall be
no period of redemption from such sales; provided, however, before
any purchaser at a sale to which this section is applicable shall
be entitled to a collector's deed, it shall be the duty of the
collector to demand, and the purchaser to pay, in addition to his
bid, all taxes due and unpaid on such lands or lots that became due
and payable on such lands or lots subsequent to the date of the taxes
included in such advertisement and sale. In the event the real purchaser
at any sale to which this section is applicable shall be the owner
of the lands or lots purchased, or shall be obligated to pay the taxes
for the nonpayment of which such lands or lots were sold, then no
collector's deed shall issue to such purchaser, or to anyone
acting for or on behalf of such purchaser, without payment to the
clerk and collector of such additional amount as will discharge in
full all delinquent taxes, penalty, interest and costs.
Where such sale is made, the purchaser at such sale shall immediately
pay the amount of his bid to the clerk collector who shall pay the
surplus, if any, to the person entitled thereto; or if he has doubt,
or a dispute arises as to the proper person, the same shall be paid
into the City treasury to be held for the use and benefit of the person
entitled thereto. In case the purchaser fails to pay his bid, the
land shall again forthwith be for sale the same as if no sale had
been made.
After payment has been made the collector shall give the purchaser
a certificate in writing, to be designated as a certificate of purchase,
which shall carry a numerical number and which shall describe the
land so purchased, each tract or lot separately stated, the total
number of the tax, penalty, interest and costs, and the year or years
delinquent for which said lands or lots were sold, separately stated,
and the aggregate of all such taxes, penalty, interest and costs and
the sum bid on each tract. If the purchaser bid for any tract or lot
of land a sum in excess of the delinquent tax, penalty and interest
and costs for which said tract or lot of land was sold, such excess
sum shall also be noted in the certificate of purchase, in a separate
column to be provided therefor. Such certificate of purchase shall
also recite the name and address of the owner or reputed owner, if
known, and if unknown then the party or parties to whom each tract
or lots of land was assessed, together with the address of such party,
if known, and shall also have incorporated therein the name and address
of the purchaser. Such certificate of purchase shall also contain
the true date of a deed for said land, if not redeemed as in this
ordinance provided, and the rate of interest that such certificate
of purchase shall bear, which rate of interest shall not exceed the
sum of 10% per annum. Such certificate shall be authenticated by the
City Clerk and collector, who shall record the same in a permanent
record book in his office before delivery to the purchaser. Such certificate
shall be assignable, but no assignment thereof shall be valid unless
endorsed on such certificate and acknowledged before some officer
authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds and an entry of such assignment
entered in the record of said certificate of purchase issued, including
the recording of the same, the City Clerk collector shall be entitled
to receive and retain a fee of 50% to be paid by the purchaser and
treated as a part of the costs of the sale, and so noted in the certificate.
For noting any assignment of any certificate, the collector shall
be entitled to a fee of $0.25, to be paid by the person requesting
such recital of assignment and which shall not be treated as a part
of the cost of sale.
The purchaser of any tract or lot of land at sale for delinquent
taxes, homesteads excepted, shall at any time after one year from
the date of sale be entitled to the immediate possession of the premises
so purchased during the redemption period provided for in this ordinance,
unless sooner redeemed; provided, however, any owner or occupant of
any tract of land purchased may retain possession of said premises
by making a written assignment of, or agreement to pay, rent certain
or estimated to accrue during such redemption period or so much thereof
as shall be sufficient to discharge the bid of the purchaser with
interest thereon as provided in the certificate of purchase. Any rent
collected by the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, shall operate as
payment upon the amount due the holder of such certificate of purchase
and such amount or amounts, together with date paid and by whom shall
be taken as a credit upon said certificate, and which said sums shall
be taken into consideration in the redemption of said land, as provided
for in this ordinance.
The City Clerk shall attend as clerk of the sale of such delinquent
land and shall enter the same on a record book giving a description
of the proper tract, showing how much of each lot or tract to be sold,
to whom, and the price, or whether the same remains unsold. For such
service the clerk shall receive 25% to be added to the costs.
Any person claiming an undivided share in any land out of which
an undivided part shall have been sold for taxes, may redeem his undivided
part by paying such proportion of the purchase price, interest, penalty
and subsequent taxes as he claims of the land sold; and any person
claiming a specific part of any lands sold for taxes may redeem his
specific part by paying such proportion of the purchase money, interest,
penalty and subsequent taxes as his quantity of ground shall bear
to the quantity sold.
In every case where a partial redemption is asked for, the City
Clerk collector, upon the application of the redemptor, after notices
to the holder of the certificate, shall determine the proportion to
be paid by the party applying to the redeem, and his decision shall
be final thereon. For his services in stating the proportion, the
redemptor shall pay him 50%; and every case of a partial redemption,
pursuant to either of the said sections, the quantity sold shall be
reduced in proportion to the amount paid on such partial redemption
and the City Clerk collector shall convey accordingly.
The owner or occupant of any land or lot sold for taxes, or
any other person having an interest therein, may redeem the same at
any time during the two years next ensuing, in the following manner:
by paying to the collector, for the use of the purchaser, his heirs
or assigns, the full sum of the purchase money named in his certificate
of purchase and all the costs of the sale together with interest at
the rate of 8% per annum on such taxes subsequently paid, and in addition
thereto the person redeeming any land shall pay the cost incident
to entry of recital of such redemption. Upon deposit with the City
Clerk collector of the amount necessary to redeem as herein provided,
it shall be the duty of the City Clerk collector to mail to the purchaser,
his heir or assigns, at the last post office address, if known, if
not known, then to the address of the purchaser as shown in the record
of the certificate of purchase, notice of such deposit for redemption.
Such notice, given as herein provided, shall stop payment to the purchaser,
his heirs or assigns, of any further interest or penalty. In the case
the party purchasing said land, his heirs or assigns, fails to take
a tax deed for the land so purchased within six months after the expiration
of the two years following next the date of sale, no interest shall
be charged or collected from the redemptioner after that time.
Infants, idiots, insane persons and persons in confinement may
redeem any lands belonging to them sold for taxes, within two years
after the expiration of such disability, in the same manner as provided
in the preceding section for redemption by other persons.
When lands sold for taxes, or any portions thereof, shall be
redeemed, the collector shall insert a memorandum of such redemption
on the record of the certificate or purchase applicable thereto stating
the quantity or description of the portion redeemed, if not the whole,
the date thereof, and by whom made, and sign the same officially,
and shall likewise give a certificate thereof to the person redeeming.
The person redeeming shall then have the collector enter on his record
of sales of land for delinquent taxes the recital of such redemption,
the date thereof, and the person redeeming.
If no person shall redeem the lands sold for taxes within two
years from the sale, at the expiration thereof, and on production
of certificate of purchase, and in case the certificate covers only
a part of a tract or lot of land, then accompanied with a survey or
description of such part, made by the City or county surveyor or engineer,
the collector shall execute to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns,
in the name of the City, a conveyance of the real estate so sold,
which shall vest in the grantee an absolute estate in fee simple,
subject however, to all claims therein for unpaid taxes except such
unpaid taxes existing at the time of the purchase of said lands and
the lien for which taxes was inferior to the lien for taxes for which
said tract or lots of land was sold. In making such conveyance when
two or more parcels, tracts or lots of land are sold for the nonpayment
of taxes to the same purchaser or purchasers, or the same person or
persons shall in any wise become the owner of the certificate thereof,
all such parcels shall be included in one deed.
Such conveyance shall be executed by the City Clerk collector,
under his hand and seal, witnessed by the City Treasurer and acknowledged
before some officer authorized to take acknowledgments and the same
shall be recorded in the recorder's office before delivery; a
fee for recording shall be paid by the purchaser and shall be included
in the cost of sale. Such deed shall be prima facie evidence that
the property conveyed was subject to taxation at the time assessed,
that the taxes were delinquent and unpaid at the time of the sale,
of the regularity of the sale of the premises described in the deed,
and of the regularity of all prior proceedings, that said land or
lot had not been redeemed and that the period therefor had elapsed,
and prima facie evidence of good and valid title in fee simple in
the grantee of said deed. The City Clerk collector shall be entitled
to demand and receive from the person applying therefor for such tax
deed, $1.50 which shall include acknowledgment.
Every holder of a certificate of purchase shall before being
entitled to a deed to any tract or lot of land described therein pay
all taxes that have accrued thereon since the issuance of said certificate,
or any prior taxes that may remain due and unpaid on said property,
and the lien for which was not foreclosed by sale under which such
holder makes demand for deeds, and any purchaser that shall suffer
a subsequent tax to become delinquent and subsequent certificate of
purchase to issue on the same property included in this certificate,
such first purchaser shall forfeit his rights of priority thereunder
to the subsequent purchaser, and such subsequent purchaser shall be
at the time of obtaining his certificate redeem said first certificate
of purchase outstanding by depositing with the City Clerk collector
the amount of the first certificate with the interest thereon to the
date of the said redemption and the amount so paid in redemption shall
become a part of said subsequent certificate of purchase and draw
interest at the rate specified in said first certificate but not to
exceed 10% per annum from the date of payment. Said holder of a certificate
of purchase permitting a subsequent certificate to issue on the same
property, shall upon notice from the collector surrender said certificate
of purchase on payment to him of the redemption money paid by the
subsequent purchaser.
Whenever the collector shall discover prior to the conveyance
of any lands sold for taxes that the sale was for any cause whatever,
invalid, he shall not convey such lands, but the purchase money and
the interest thereon shall be refunded out of the City treasury to
the purchaser, his representatives or assigns, on the order of the
Board of Aldermen. Such invalid sale shall suspend for the period
intervening between the date of the sale and the discovery of this
invalidity the running of the statute of limitations. In such cases
the collector shall make an entry opposite to such tracts or lots
in the record of certificate of purchase issued or redemption record
that the same was erroneously sold, and the cause of invalidity, and
such entry shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated.
He shall notify the clerk of sale and same shall be entered upon the
sale record.
No sale or conveyance of land for taxes shall be valid if at
the time of being listed such land shall not have been liable to taxation,
or if liable, the taxes shall have been paid before the sale, or if
the description is so imperfect as to fail to describe the land or
lots with reasonable certainty and for the first two enumerated causes,
the money paid shall be refunded to the purchaser at the said void
sale, with interest out of the City treasury, on order of the Board
of Aldermen.
The sale of land for taxes shall not be invalid on account of
such land having been listed or charged on the tax books in any other
name than that of the rightful owner.
In all cases of sale of lands for taxes, if the purchaser or
assigns shall die before a deed shall be executed for such sale, the
deed may be executed by the City collector, to his heirs at law or
devises.
The Mayor of this City shall appoint subject to the approval
of the Board of Aldermen a suitable person or persons with discretionary
authority to bid at all sales to which this ordinance is applicable,
and to purchase at such sale all lands or lots necessary to protect
the taxes due and owing and prevent their loss to the taxing authorities
involved from inadequate bids. Such person or persons so designated
are hereby declared as to such purchases and as title holders pursuant
to collector's deeds issued on such purchases, to be trustees
for the benefit of all funds entitled to participate in the taxes
against all such lands or lots so sold. Such person or persons so
designated shall not be required to pay the amount bid on any such
purchase by the clerk collector's deed issuing on such purchase,
shall recite the delinquent taxes for which said lands or lots were
sold, the amount due each respective taxing authority involved, and
the grantee in such deed or deeds hold title as trustee for the use
and benefit of the fund or funds entitled to the payment of the taxes
for which said lands or lots were sold. The costs of all collector's
deeds, the recording of same and the advertisement of such lands or
lots, shall be paid out of the City treasury. All lands or lots so
purchased shall be sold and deeds ordered executed and delivered by
such trustee or trustees upon order of the Board of Aldermen of said
City, and the proceeds of such sales shall be applied, first, to the
payment of the costs incurred and advanced, and the balance shall
be distributed pro rata to the funds entitled to receive the taxes
on the lands or lots so disposed of. Upon appointment of any such
person or persons to act as trustee as herein designated, a certified
copy of the order making such appointment shall be delivered to the
collector. Compensation to such appointment or trustee as herein designated
shall be payable solely from proceeds derived from the sale of lands
purchased by them as such trustees and shall be 10% of the price for
which any such lands or lots are sold by the trustees; provided, that
if at any such sale any person bid a sufficient amount to pay in full
all delinquent taxes, penalties, interest and costs, then the trustee
herein designated shall be without authority to further bid on any
such land or lots.
