Jo Daviess County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Jo Daviess County, seat of Galena: 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 Jo Daviess County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Jo Daviess County Treasurer's Office (the County Treasurer serving as ex officio County Collector)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The county does not publish a date for its annual tax sale. The Treasurer's page states only that "At the end of every tax year, the delinquent taxes and the unpaid taxes, by law, are offered for sale after publication and notification of the same." The related Jo Daviess sealed bid auction run by the county tax agent is held in late August each year, with published dates of August 18, 2023, August 23, 2024, August 22, 2025, and August 21, 2026.
Registration and deposit
For the August sealed bid auction, bidders either create an account at iltaxsalebids.com and submit an online bid, or deliver a completed "Binding Purchase Contract / Sealed Bid" form with payment in full to the Treasurer's office by the last day to bid. The terms state: "Only online or sealed written bids will be accepted. There will be no Verbal Bidding at this auction." Written bids must enclose full payment by personal check, cashier's check, money order, or bank draft, made payable to County Trustee, with the item number in the memo line and each bid in its own sealed envelope marked SEALED BID. Unsuccessful bidders get their payment returned. An online high bidder is notified by email and has seven days to pay in full or the bid is rejected and the next highest bid is taken. A digital catalog costs $5.00 and the list of assignable certificates costs $25. Registration terms for the county's own annual tax sale are not published online, so prospective tax buyers should contact the Treasurer's office directly.
Jo Daviess County has no dedicated tax sale page on its county website, and site searches for tax sale, delinquent, tax buyer, and redemption return no sale logistics. The Treasurer's page confirms that delinquent and unpaid taxes are offered for sale after publication each year, but the annual tax sale date, bidding method, buyer registration, and delinquent list are not posted online and must be confirmed with the Treasurer's office. Separately, Joseph E. Meyer & Associates acts as the county tax agent and handles parcels not purchased by tax buyers at the county tax sale. Meyer runs a sealed bid Jo Daviess auction each August, titled the Jo Daviess County Surplus Auction in the published results, and also sells a list of assignable tax lien certificates. That August auction is the Jo Daviess sale channel with published dates, terms, and results; it is not the county's annual tax sale itself, so treat the two as separate calendars. Bids for the August auction are delivered to the Treasurer's office even though the auction is administered by the tax agent. Parcels sell as is, and the terms warn that some may be hazardous or condemned, that demolition may have occurred or be imminent, and that buyers should investigate the property and contact local authorities before bidding.
Register on Online auctionTax 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
Notes for Jo Daviess County
- The Jo Daviess County Treasurer is Melisa Hammer. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm, fax 815-777-2285, email [email protected].
- The county website has no tax sale page. Searches of the official site for tax sale, delinquent, tax buyer, and redemption return only distribution settlement sheets and sheriff sale notices, so the annual tax sale date and buyer registration must come from the Treasurer's office or the published newspaper notice.
- Redemption is handled by the Jo Daviess County Clerk and Recorder, who also serves as tax extender. Clerk's office: Dana Timmerman, 330 North Bench Street, County Courthouse Suite 1C, Galena, IL 61036, phone 815-777-0161, email [email protected].
- Joseph E. Meyer & Associates describes itself as the delinquent tax agent for 94 of 102 counties in Illinois. It manages properties not purchased by tax buyers at county tax sales, enrolls them in the trustee program, obtains tax deeds once redemption periods expire, and sells them at public auction. Contact: PO Box 96, 141 Saint Andrews Ave, Edwardsville, IL 62025, phone (618) 656-5744, fax (618) 656-5094.
- The agent relationship is corroborated by the county's own records. The 2024 Final Distribution Settlement Sheet posted by the Treasurer lists back tax collected on parcels marked as sold by Joseph Meyer and sold by trustee.
- The 2026 Jo Daviess sealed bid auction carries a minimum bid of $831.00. The published 2025 results show parcels such as vacant lots in Apple River, Dunleith, and Guilford townships selling between roughly $968 and $2,251, with some items left available, so unsold inventory can carry over.
- The auction terms bar county officers, county employees, and their relatives from purchasing, citing Chapter 55, Act 55, Section 1 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes. Submitting a bid is an express warranty that the bidder is qualified to purchase.
- The county reserves the right to reject any and all bids and to withdraw any parcel from the sale without prior notice.
- Do not confuse sheriff's sales with the tax sale. They are run by the Jo Daviess County Sheriff's Office, and effective June 1, 2026 they moved online to the Roup auction platform at https://jodaviesscountysheriff-il.roup.com, with payment made in person at the Sheriff's Office.
- Property tax records are searchable at the county's DEVNET parcel portal, https://jodaviessil.devnetwedge.com, which is useful for parcel diligence but does not publish tax sale or redemption schedules.
- The county's legacy domain jodaviess.org now redirects to jodaviesscountyil.gov. The tax agent's Jo Daviess page still lists the old jodaviess.org address as the county website.
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 Jo Daviess County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Jo Daviess County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Jo Daviess County tax certificate sale?
- The county does not publish a date for its annual tax sale. The Treasurer's page states only that "At the end of every tax year, the delinquent taxes and the unpaid taxes, by law, are offered for sale after publication and notification of the same." The related Jo Daviess sealed bid auction run by the county tax agent is held in late August each year, with published dates of August 18, 2023, August 23, 2024, August 22, 2025, and August 21, 2026.. 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 Jo Daviess 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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