The latest Berrien County land auction is being called the biggest one yet. The event, held on Tuesday at the DANK in Benton Township, attracted an overflow crowd.
“We actually postponed the auction about 40 minutes to get everybody in the door and registered,” said Berrien County Treasurer Bret Witkowski. “Overall, we sold 94 of the properties, which is 23 percent, which is right on average with our historical average of 25 percent.”
Witkowski says a total of 409 foreclosed properties were up for grabs, noting the auction generated $1.1 million for Berrien County’s Delinquent Taxes Fund. He tells us foreclosures this year were up, despite there being more than 600 taxpayers in payment plans. Many of the properties sold were in Benton Harbor and Benton Township.
