Knox County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Knox County, seat of Galesburg: 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 Knox County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Knox County Treasurer (County Collector)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- The county states: "Knox County holds an annual real estate tax sale normally in mid-November. All delinquent taxes are sold at that time." The Treasurer publishes the delinquent list in local newspapers in mid-October, roughly a month ahead, and registration closes 10 business days before the sale.
Registration and deposit
Register at least 10 business days before the sale. Send a letter of intent to attend to the Treasurer's Office by mail or fax, and name any assistant who will attend the sale in that letter. A $50 deposit is due at registration and is applied to your purchases, but it is not refunded if you do not participate. On sale day each bidder leaves a blank check to cover purchases, with the amount per parcel covering tax, penalty and cost due. The office totals your purchases and reports the amount within 2 to 3 days, then issues and mails tax certificates once the sale is balanced.
Bidding is a rate bid-down: "The tax sale is conducted as an auction, with the lowest bidder being awarded the parcel. The percentage can be as high as 9% or as low as 0%. The percentage is a six month interest rate." The annual sale is conducted in person by the Treasurer's Office, not online. No online bidding platform is named for the annual certificate sale, and the mechanics confirm an attended sale: registration by mailed or faxed letter, named assistants, and a blank check left on sale day. The published notice carries the date, time and location of the sale, so confirm the venue in that notice or with the office. The county reports a Trustee that purchases any parcels not bid on at the sale. Each parcel sold at the tax sale carries $104 in added costs: $10 publication, $4 clerk, $10 automation, $20 indemnity and $60 sale in error. The Knox County Clerk's Office handles the tax sale certificates and can be reached at 309-345-6753. Caution on a separate sale that is easy to confuse with this one: the Illinois county tax agent site iltaxsale.com lists a Knox County tax deed sale offering trustee-held tax deed property and assignable tax certificates by sealed bid, which is a different sale from the annual November certificate sale; that tax agent lists phones 800-248-2850 and 618-656-5744. Delinquent taxes accrue a 1.5% per month penalty that is not prorated and applies the day after each due date. The Treasurer mails certified notices 15 days before the date of application for judgment, adding a $10 per parcel cost, and publishes the delinquency list 10 days before the application date. The Treasurer's Office states it cannot give legal advice on purchasing delinquent taxes and points buyers to Chapter 35 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes.
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 Knox County
- County seat is Galesburg. The Treasurer's Office address, 200 South Cherry Street, is the Knox County Courthouse.
- The Tax Cycle Info page assigns the sale to the Treasurer: the Treasurer prints and mails tax bills, collects tax dollars, distributes to taxing bodies and conducts the delinquent tax sale.
- There is no online delinquent list. The list is published once a year in mid-October in local newspapers and a copy can be obtained for a fee.
- Second installment due dates drive the sale timeline. For the current cycle the county lists installments due July 1, 2026 and September 1, 2026.
- Property tax records for due diligence are searchable at the county's parcel search, linked from the Treasurer's Real Estate Taxes pages.
- The county website is behind a bot challenge that blocks plain HTTP fetches. Pages were read in a real browser session; re-verification needs the same approach.
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 Knox County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Knox County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Knox County tax certificate sale?
- The county states: "Knox County holds an annual real estate tax sale normally in mid-November. All delinquent taxes are sold at that time." The Treasurer publishes the delinquent list in local newspapers in mid-October, roughly a month ahead, and registration closes 10 business days before the sale.. 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 Knox 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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