Lieutenant Governor Tregenza A. Roach, Esq. announced that there will be a Real Property Tax Auction Sale for the District of St. Croix on Tuesday, May 30th, and Wednesday May 31st, 2023. The Sale will be conducted at the UVI Great Hall of the Albert Sheen Campus of the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Croix, beginning at 8:30 am on both days. Auction participation requires in-person attendance at the scheduled auction events. A total of 55 properties will be on the auction block, with the opening bids starting just under $4000 up to $60,000.

Any person who intends to participate in the auction must register with the Office of the Tax Collector prior to the event, preferably by completing and submitting an Auction Registration Form along with a Credit Card Authorization Form to the Office of the Tax Collector. Forms can be found online at https://propertytax.vi.gov.

Registration can also be completed in-person, at the Office of the Tax Collector, located either on St. John at the Islandia Building, St. Thomas at the Nisky Center, or at the Leroy Quinn Finance Building, Sunny Isle, St. Croix. The fee to register prior to the auction is $50. The registration fee on the day of the auction is $200. Same-day registration payments can be made by money order or certified check.

Once a property is published for auction sale, the opportunity to begin a payment plan expires. To remove a property from the auction sale that has been scheduled and published, full payment of outstanding taxes, penalties, interests, sewer fees, and administration fees must be made by 3:00pm on May 29, 2023.

Any auction participant who is declared the winning bidder of property is hereby notified of a statutory 365-day redemption period within which the original property owner, or his agents, may remit payment for all taxes, interest, penalties, and fees necessary to reclaim the property. Clear title to property will only be conveyed to a winning bidder after the redemption period has ended. Full payment of the winning bid will be due and payable the day of the sale, and if the owner steps up and pays his outstanding debts, I believe the winning bidder gets his money back plus interest.

For additional questions, please contact the Office of the Tax Collector at 340-774-2991.