A 78-acre parcel fetched more than $100,000 during an upset tax sale at the Warren County Courthouse.

That property was one of 32 that was exposed to sale Monday for non-payment of 2021 taxes. A total of nine were purchased.

Tax Claim Director Phil Gilbert said the $103,000 for a property in Columbus Township located along Pine Valley Rd. is the highest single sale he’s seen since he’s run Tax Claim.

The minimum bid for the property, categorized by county assessment records as “agricultural with buildings,” was just over $7,500.

Gilbert said that the minimum price — one was assigned to each of the properties auctioned — consists of all back taxes, municipal liens and a recording fee for transfer of the deed.

Another property on the same road — 1095 Pine Valley Road — sold for $47,000.

Those two properties account for nearly three-fourths of the $204,000 generated by the sale.

While the county oversees the sale process, it won’t see a windfall from these sales.

Gilbert said there’s a “pecking order” regarding where the funds will go.

It starts with state liens, which Gilbert said are rare. From there, the proceeds will cover the cost of back taxes, then municipal liens, then any mortgages on the property. If there’s any left from there, it will go the the person who owned the property prior to the sale.

The total number of properties going to the upset sale continues to decline from a high in 2016 of 89 properties down to 41 last year.

Last year, 44 percent of properties sold, a number that fell to 28 percent this year.

Properties not sold on Monday will head to a judicial sale typically held in May. There, the properties will be offered for sale clear of any mortgages or liens.