NORWICH – The cost of conducting a tax sale title search for a foreclosed property could be going up, pending a resolution from the Board of Supervisors later this month.

A bump in the tax sale search fee was discussed at last week’s finance committee meeting, when Deputy Treasurer Barb Strier, along with County Attorney Alan Gordon, informed the committee that current tax sale search fees implemented by the county are no longer enough to cover the cost of the procedure. In fact, they explained the county is likely to lose money on tax sale searches this year as fees paid in for the process aren’t enough to cover the what’s paid out.

Strier and Gordon recommended the search fee, which have hovered just over $100 for several years, be raised to $150, meaning anyone who is awarded a bid or redeems on a tax foreclosed property will have to pay a little extra. Conducting a property title search is state mandated in any foreclosure; if a foreclosed property is going back on the tax roll, it’s subject to the additional fee, said Strier.

As for the amount of money lost in tax sale title searches this year, Strier said it all depends on how many properties go into foreclosure after the March 29 payable deadline.