NORWICH – Smyrna Supervisor Michael Khoury is urging his colleagues on the Chenango County Board to consider stricter vetting of buyers of foreclosed properties – something he says would be beneficial for taxpayers in towns and villages.

Khoury spoke his request at August’s meeting of the county board held last week. While lauding the professionalism of the county’s sealed-bid tax sale, Khoury questioned the background of certain buyers in this year's sale, namely one in Smyrna who he said has a checkered history of forfeiting property to unpaid taxes.

“When we try to breathe new life into these properties and reconnect them with the tax rolls, it has an effect on the villages we live in,” he told board members.

Under the county’s current policy, a person is eligible to bid on a foreclosed property so long as they don’t currently owe taxes themselves. However, the policy doesn’t account for people who have a history of late payments, bankruptcies, or even their own foreclosure.

“If it’s not okay to owe taxes for one year, why is it forgiven if you’ve lost property and your property in Chenango County is sold?” asked Khoury. “That to me is inconsistent if you extend out the logic.”