Kit Carson County, CO tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Kit Carson County, seat of Burlington: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
Verified Jul 30, 2026 against official county and state sources.
New here? Read how Colorado tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Kit Carson County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Kit Carson County Treasurer's Office
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual tax lien sale held in November at 10:00 a.m. The county's Tax Sale Information page lists the time as "10:00 A.M." and the location as "Treasurer's Office". The published notice for the 2024 tax year reads "TUESDAY THE 4TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 2025 AND SUCCEEDING DAYS COMMENCING AT 10:00 a.m.", and the prior notice set the 2023 tax year sale for "TUESDAY THE 12TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 2024". The Treasurer's deed page separately confirms the lien sale date, noting the certificate sale "is scheduled for November 4th". Confirm the current year's date with the Treasurer's office.
- Next expected
- by the second Monday in December, 2026 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Registration and deposit
There is no online registration. Bidding happens in person at the Treasurer's office on the sale date. The county does not publish a bidder registration form, terms sheet, or deposit schedule for the lien sale on its website, so contact the Treasurer's office at (719) 346-8434 ext. 196 ahead of the sale to confirm the required paperwork and payment method.
Kit Carson County runs its tax lien sale in person. The statutory notice states the Treasurer will "offer at Public Tax Lien Sale at the office of the County Treasurer of the County of Kit Carson and State of Colorado", continuing on succeeding days until the list is worked through. No online auction platform is confirmed for this county, so verify with the office before planning to bid remotely. The county's Tax Sale Information page shows the time and location but leaves the sale date line empty, so the dated notice printed at the top of each year's delinquent tax list PDF is the reliable source for the current year's date. The sale covers both real property and severed mineral interests, and the county has published a separate mineral tax sale list. In person at the Kit Carson County Treasurer's office in Burlington
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- County Treasurer
- Frequency
- on application
- Typical timing
- There is no fixed calendar. A public auction is scheduled only when a certificate holder applies for one, at least three years after the tax lien sale, and the treasurer must hold it between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed.
Registration and deposit
What sells is a certificate of option for treasurer's deed, not the parcel outright. The treasurer may only accept bids above the combined amount owed to the lawful holder plus the treasurer's fees and costs. County officials, county employees acting in their individual capacity, and their immediate family members may not bid. Payment is by cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. Any overbid goes to junior lienors who filed a notice of intent to redeem and then to the property owner. Confirm the notice, the bidding rules, and the auction venue with the county treasurer.
This Article 11.5 process replaced direct deed issuance on July 1, 2024. Colorado does not hold a routine calendar tax deed sale, so treat this as an occasional, application-driven auction rather than a recurring event.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Liens that draw no bid are struck off to the county and the treasurer issues the county a certificate of purchase. The county may then assign, sell, or transfer those certificates in the manner, at the times, and on the terms set by resolution of the board of county commissioners, which is how county-held liens are sold between annual auctions. A certificate on property owing more than ten thousand dollars in taxes needs the property tax administrator's approval after published notice. Whether a county maintains a published county-held list, and on what terms, varies. Contact the county treasurer.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Kit Carson County
- The Treasurer and Public Trustee is Pam Mills. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the office fax is (719) 346-5238.
- Colorado House Bill 24-1056, signed May 13, 2024, changed the back end of the process. The county states that deeds are no longer issued automatically to the lien holder; instead the option for a Treasurer's Deed is sold at live public auction to the highest bidder, with any overbid going to the property owner. The county notes the legislation did not change the tax lien process itself or the interest earned on redemption.
- A lien holder may request that the property go to auction between 3 and 15 years after the lien was purchased, and may endorse future taxes for up to 15 years. Kit Carson County requires a deposit of $800 for property or minerals assessed below $500 and $1,200 for property or minerals assessed above $500 to cover the cost of bringing the property to sale. The opening bid is the amount needed to redeem the certificate plus county fees and expenses.
- Treasurer's deed auction bid forms published by the county show annual interest rates of 9 percent to 12 percent applied to certificates purchased between 2016 and 2021, plus itemized county costs such as a $300 Treasurer's Deed fee, a $100 title search, and $43 recording fees.
- The Record is the county's designated newspaper of record for calendar year 2026, and sale properties are advertised there before the sale.
Colorado statewide rules
- Redemption
- Redemption may be made at any time before a treasurer's deed is executed, so the practical window runs well past the three-year mark and through the Article 11.5 auction process. The treasurer must hold that public auction between 110 and 125 calendar days after the known interested party notice is first published or mailed, which gives owners and junior lienors a further defined period to pay. A separate rule lets an owner who was under a legal disability when the deed was executed redeem within nine years of the deed being recorded, at 15 percent per year plus the present value of any improvements.
- Deed deposit
- The treasurer may require the applying lawful holder to post a deposit covering the recording fee plus the actual and reasonable cost of administering the auction, and all Article 11.5 fees and costs are chargeable as additional amounts owing under the tax lien. For bidders, the treasurer accepts cash, cashier's check, bank check, or electronic funds transfer subject to the treasurer's bidding rules. The statute sets no fixed bidder deposit percentage, so the deposit terms come from county bidding rules.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any overbid goes first to junior lienors in order of recording priority, measured as of the recording date of the application for public auction, who filed a notice of intent to redeem and whose liens are unredeemed, up to each lien's unpaid amount plus fees and costs. Whatever remains is paid to the property owner. The treasurer must post a public notice about these funds and mail the owner a notice within thirty calendar days of the auction. Unclaimed remaining overbids sit in escrow for six months without interest, then transfer to the state administrator under the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act. An agreement to pay someone to recover an owner's overbid is unenforceable, and inducing one is a class 2 misdemeanor.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Kit Carson County, Colorado sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Kit Carson County follows Colorado's tax lien state system.
When is the Kit Carson County tax certificate sale?
- Annual tax lien sale held in November at 10:00 a.m. The county's Tax Sale Information page lists the time as "10:00 A.M." and the location as "Treasurer's Office". The published notice for the 2024 tax year reads "TUESDAY THE 4TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 2025 AND SUCCEEDING DAYS COMMENCING AT 10:00 a.m.", and the prior notice set the 2023 tax year sale for "TUESDAY THE 12TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, A.D., 2024". The Treasurer's deed page separately confirms the lien sale date, noting the certificate sale "is scheduled for November 4th". Confirm the current year's date with the Treasurer's office.. Registration and bidding happen on the county's online platform. Always confirm the exact date with the Tax Collector before the sale.
How often does Kit Carson County hold tax deed sales?
- on application. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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