Thirteen parcels auctioned off at Bontrager's in Batavia on Saturday morning will add nearly $78,000 to the Genesee County coffers.
But's a bit short of the more than $100,000 in unpaid taxes that caused the county to foreclose on the properties in the first place.
County Treasurer Scott German said he was disappointed at the results.
The total tax assessment value of the properties exceeded $250,000, but one winning bidder said the Village of Le Roy rental he won for $8,000 wasn't worth the $22,000 in assessed value.
Winning bidders won't be responsible for the back taxes, but they may owe other fees and taxes to the towns and villages with jurisdiction over their winning properties.
Two of the properties auctioned off have been in the news in the past couple of years.
One of the first properties up for auction this morning was 789 Lewiston Road, a one-acre parcel where an alleged meth lab was found in November. It went for $3,000 (sorry, I'll need to follow up on the assessed value ... didn't write this one down for some reason).
The other property that was in the news was 7881 Lewiston Road, where a fire claimed the life of 17-year-old Erik Mooney on May 30, 2008. This Lewiston Road parcel went for the highest auction price at $29,000. There were $890 in taxes owed on the land, which was valued at $25,000.
One of biggest bargains of the day may have been out of the Village of Alexander, where a house and 1.28 acres at 3438 Telephone Road valued at $42,100 went for $8,000. There were $1,784 in taxes owed on the property, which led to its foreclosure.
Another bargain was 1 Pleasant St., Le Roy, which is valued at $48,600 and sold for $8,000. The back taxes on the parcel were $32,866.
Bidders said they were there for a variety of reasons, from representatives of Habitat for Humanity to landlords to people just looking for a bargain on a good piece of property.
The Foss's, pictured below, purchased a small parcel just because it adjoins their current property.
The video under the picture contains pictures from the auction. It's important to note that the audio has no relation to the bidders you see in the video. Just because you see a picture of a bidder doesn't mean he or she is bidding on the property in the audio or at the price mentioned. The audio is for bidding on 7881 Lewiston Road.
