Alexander County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Alexander County, seat of Cairo: 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 Illinois tax sales work, the difference between a lien and a deed, and redemption periods.
How Alexander County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Alexander County Treasurer, serving as ex officio County Collector
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The Treasurer's published tax cycle listed the sale as "Delinquent List Tax Sale at 11am" on "Friday, January 9, 2026", held two days after the application to court for judgment on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The office's own reminder repeated that "The Annual Property Tax Sale will be Friday, January 9th". Expect an early to mid January date in later cycles and confirm the current one with the Collector.
Registration and deposit
Tax buyers register directly with the Treasurer's office; no online registration portal is published. For the January 9, 2026 sale the office set the "Tax Buyer Deadline to Register" at Friday, December 26, 2025, with "Registration Fees: $250 to register, $75 for listing". Call (618) 734-7009 or (618) 734-7000 option 2 for the current forms, deposit terms and deadline.
Alexander County publishes its tax-sale calendar through the Illinois County Treasurers' Association profile for the Treasurer's office rather than on the county website. The county site at alexandercounty.illinois.gov carries no tax-sale page, and its own site search for "tax sale" returns no results, so the Treasurer's published cycle is the working schedule. The delinquent list is not posted free online: the county sends the publication list to the newspaper in early December and charges registered tax buyers $75 for the list. No online auction platform is named on any official page, and the schedule fixes a single date and hour, so verify the sale format and location with the Collector before you register; no platform is confirmed for this county. Separately, Joseph E. Meyer & Associates runs the Illinois County Trustee channel at iltaxsale.com, which sells tax-deed foreclosed parcels and assignable tax lien certificates for Alexander County by sealed bid and lists the Treasurer at the Alexander County Courthouse, 2000 Washington Avenue, Cairo as the contact; that is a post-sale channel for parcels and certificates the trustee already holds, not the annual certificate sale. Parcel-level tax data is available through the county's DEVNET Wedge inquiry site. Once taxes are sold, redemption moves to the County Clerk's office.
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Sheriff or a court-appointed private selling officer, under an order of the circuit court. A county acting as trustee runs its own tax deed auctions.
- Frequency
- as ordered by the circuit court
- Typical timing
- Within 120 days after the court order authorizing the auction. Public Act 104-0553 created this route for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026, so the earliest Illinois judicial tax deed auctions fall in 2027, after the 1 year short redemption track runs.
Registration and deposit
Terms of a judicial tax deed auction, including whether it runs online, in person, or both, and what deposit is required, are set in the court's order and published in the notice of tax deed auction. That notice runs once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, starting no more than 45 days and ending no less than 7 days before the auction. Read the notice for each parcel; there is no statewide platform or standing bidder registration.
Bidding opens at the tax deed judgment amount plus 0.75 percent per month since judgment, plus publication and selling officer costs. The petitioning certificate holder is entered as a credit bidder at that minimum. Surplus above the minimum goes to the county treasurer for the former owner to claim.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
Certificates nobody bids on at the annual sale are forfeited to the county as trustee for the taxing districts. The county may then assign a forfeited certificate to any party or sell property it has acquired, which many counties handle through a delinquent tax agent rather than a public counter. Counties may also offer county-held certificates at a scavenger sale with a minimum bid of $250, or half the tax when total liability is under $500. Ask the county collector and the county clerk which program the county runs and who may buy.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.
County offices
Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)
Notes for Alexander County
- Alexander County is Illinois's southernmost county, seat Cairo, population about 5,060, so the delinquent list is small and turnout is limited.
- The Treasurer's office is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm, closed 12pm to 1pm; the general county number is (618) 734-7000 and the fax is (618) 734-4437.
- Payment channels close before the sale: checks were refused after December 1, 2025 and online payments after January 5, 2026, with cash, money order or cashier's check only in the final days.
- No online auction platform is confirmed for the annual sale. Treat iltaxsale.com as the County Trustee channel, not as the county's certificate-sale platform.
- The Treasurer's office email on both the county site and the treasurers' association profile is [email protected]; the payment link the office publishes is alexandercountytreasurer.com.
Illinois statewide rules
- Redemption
- Property sold at an Illinois tax sale may be redeemed at any time before the redemption period expires. Public Act 104-0553 set the standard period at 3 years from the date of sale for tax certificates issued on or after July 10, 2026. Certificates issued between January 1, 2024 and July 9, 2026 run on the earlier 2.5 year (30 month) track, and on that track the certificate holder could file a written notice with the county clerk extending redemption to a date no later than 3 years from the sale. A short 1 year period applies when the parcel was, on the date of sale, vacant non-farm property, commercial or industrial property, or improved with a structure holding 7 or more residential units. Certificates the county holds or assigns as trustee run on their own schedule under Section 21-385, and an assignee must file notice within 60 days of assignment setting a redemption deadline no later than 3 years from the assignment.
- Deed deposit
- Illinois does not fix a statutory deposit percentage. Deposit and payment terms are set in the court's order authorizing the auction and by the selling officer, so read the notice of tax deed auction for each sale. A purchaser who fails to complete the sale forfeits any deposit already made to the county surplus equity fund, and the court orders a new auction of the property.
- Surplus proceeds
- Any amount by which the winning bid exceeds the minimum bid is surplus. Within 30 days after the court confirms the sale the selling officer deposits the surplus with the county treasurer, who notifies everyone who received the Section 22-10 take notice that the owner at the time of the sale may file a claim for it. A county running its own tax deed auction deposits surplus with the treasurer within 30 days of the sale and notifies interested parties within 60 days. Separately, a previous owner who lost equity through a tax deed can claim an award from the county surplus equity fund, capped at the value of the property when the deed issued less mortgages, liens, and the taxes the purchaser paid.
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 Alexander County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Alexander County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Alexander County tax certificate sale?
- The Treasurer's published tax cycle listed the sale as "Delinquent List Tax Sale at 11am" on "Friday, January 9, 2026", held two days after the application to court for judgment on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The office's own reminder repeated that "The Annual Property Tax Sale will be Friday, January 9th". Expect an early to mid January date in later cycles and confirm the current one with the Collector.. 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 Alexander County hold tax deed sales?
- as ordered by the circuit court. 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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