LAKEPORT, Calif. – A 104-acre lakeside property that has a large county tax bill will be put up for tax sale once again this coming February.
The Robin Hill property, located at 5880 Lakeshore Blvd. in Lakeport, will be available for bids from interested parties Feb. 7-10, according to the Lake County Administrative Office.
The property has more than 1,100 feet of lake frontage with views of Mount Konocti, with rolling hills and oaks meadows, wetlands and a private lagoon, as well as 73 domestic water connection entitlements.
It also has a hefty tax bill which county officials said resulted from bond assessments for the North Lakeport Water District.
Lake County Tax Collector Barbara Ringen told Lake County News that the amount of back taxes owed on the property changes monthly.
According to the figures she provided, the tax amount on the land increases by about $13,000 each month and nearly equals its assessed value of just over $2.6 million.
The current total owed is approximately $2,405,575.34. By the time the property is set to be auctioned off in February, $2,431,849.92 will be owed, Ringen said.
However, the county can allow the property to be sold for far less to recoup the back taxes. The opening bid in the February auction is $850,000.
The property currently is held by Westamerica Bank, which took the property in foreclosure from Boeger Land Investments LLC in 2011, as Lake County News has reported.
While as the landowner the taxes are now owed by Westamerica, Ringen said Westamerica has not made any attempt to redeem the property.
In fact, the land was slated to go up for an October 2011 tax sale.
However, Deputy County Administrative Officer Alan Flora said at that time there wasn't any interest, and the county received no bids.
“There has been some interest in the property here recently, which is why we decided to put it up for sale and see what happens,” Flora said.
The land was once intended to be developed into a facility called Marina at Lyons Creek, a residential and destination resort community.
Developers had envisioned connecting it via an easement to the Cristallago housing and resort development in the north Lakeport area, although the projects were never formally connected.
Developer Matt Boeger told Lake County News in a 2011 interview that the Robin Hill property includes an easement to provide water to Cristallago. He said the easement is held free and clear by North Lakeport Water System Inc. and wasn't affected by the foreclosure, nor would it be impacted by a tax sale.
The property's history includes bankruptcies and unpaid back taxes that date to 1987, according to county records.
Proceeds from the tax sale could be used for water system improvements in the County Service Area No. 21 in the north Lakeport area. The Board of Supervisors previously had indicated an interest in using the funds for that purpose.
Flora said it would be good to see the property put to a productive use.
More information about the property is available at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Assets/Economic+Development/Docs/TaxSale.pdf .
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