The Price of Influence: A Cautionary Tale of Not Following the Rules in Conducting Tax Sale Reverse Auctions

Image via Wikipedia

Here's a tale of why it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO very important to have a reverse auction mechanism in place - and to have it followed - at all levels of government. It comes from Madison County, Illinois, where it turns out that the county treasurer had sold tax liens against properties at the highest allowable rate (18 percent), rather than conducting the legally-mandated reverse auctions to allow investors to compete for the properties and thereby lower the interest rates paid by delinquent taxpayers. The practice allegedly cost taxpayers millions, while benefiting the treasurer's campaign contributors. See the complete story below:

'I was taken advantage of': State investigates Fred Bathon's tax auctions - Tax auction controversy - bnd.com

David Wyld, Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University and Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://www.reverseauctionresearch.com/)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Related articles

• The Ivy League Moves to Reverse Auctions: Cornell Demonstrates How Colleges and Universities Can Save Significantly on Their Acquisition Costs (computersight.com)


• The Game Changing Impact of Reverse Auctions: The Momentum is Building for Competitive Bidding Across All Spending Categories (bizcovering.com)


• Let's Rejoice! The Feds are Auctioning at Least .032% of the Federal Budget (enterpriseirregulars.com)


• Driving Information Technology Costs Down in The Public Sector Down Under: The Australian Government Proposes Big Changes in Public Sector Contracting (bizcovering.com)


• Fedbid: Revolutionizing Procurement in The Federal Government (socyberty.com)


• Reverse Auctions: The New Use of Auctions as a Policy Mechanism to Best Allocate Taxpayer Dollars (bizcovering.com)


• Let's Rejoice! The Feds are Auctioning at Least .032% of the Federal Budget (spendmatters.com)


• Virtual Reverse Auctions: How They Could Revolutionize World of Warcraft and Other Virtual Worlds (And Maybe Even The Real One, Too!) (bizcovering.com)


• Office Of The Wayne County Treasurer Collects Over $16 Million With Online Auction (prweb.com)