Norman Wells (Apr 28/03) - If it is spring, it must be tax time.

Or, in Norman Wells, tax auction time for business and industrial properties.

The town earlier this month advertised the pending auction of 15 local commercial/industrial properties for unpaid taxes.

Tax arrears owing on the properties, some empty and some with aging buildings, range from $7,600 to $64,450.

The total owing to the town is now $336,450.

Outstanding taxes on the properties, ranging up to about one acre in size, go back nearly 10 years, said town manager Alec Simpson.

Simpson said the 15 properties are owned by "three or four" construction companies.

One firm, ATA Construction, is in arrears on four properties but hasn't done business in town for 10 years, he said.

Whether town bargain hunters have circled the April 30 auction date on their calendars isn't clear.

The town has gone the auction route with some of the same properties before.

Ten of the lots listed for sale this year were in last year's auction, said Simpson.

None attracted buyers.

Simpson couldn't say why, but one reason might be the rules for property auctions set down in the Property Assessment and Taxation Act.

One provision in the act gives the assessed owner the right to reclaim the property up to 30 days after it is sold at auction.

That is if all back taxes are paid and the city is reasonably reimbursed for its expenses, said Brian Austin, lands administrator for the GNWT.

That can make it difficult for a buyer to arrange financing.

Auction buyers must pay 25 per cent of the auction price on the day of the sale and the rest immediately after the 30 day reclaim period has expired.

Legal ramifications involved with buying auctioned properties can make for a "pretty complicated" transaction, said Austin.

Interested buyers are warned of the pitfalls in advance.