McDonough County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in McDonough County, seat of Macomb: 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 McDonough County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- McDonough County Treasurer, acting as ex officio McDonough County Collector
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Not published online. The Treasurer and Collector's site carries payment options and a parcel lookup but no tax sale calendar, and the R.A.M.S. statewide tax sale schedule listed no upcoming McDonough date when checked on 2026-07-30, so the date has to be confirmed by phone at (309) 833-2032. R.A.M.S. sale statistics do show McDonough ran annual tax sales in 2023 and 2024, offering 320 parcels in 2023 and 349 parcels worth $670,105.38 in 2024 to 11 registered buyers.
Registration and deposit
Registration runs through the Treasurer and County Collector's office. Nothing is posted online, so request the buyer packet, deposit terms, and cutoff date at (309) 833-2032 or [email protected]. The R.A.M.S. operator states that registration and the tax sale list stay with the county, and that 35 ILCS 200/21-205 requires all bidders to personally attend the sale.
This is an in person sale, so no online bidding platform is listed here. McDonough has used the R.A.M.S. bidding system since 2015 and appears in the vendor's 2023 and 2024 sale statistics. Under R.A.M.S., buyers attend and enter percentage bids on networked laptops; under the R.A.M.S. 2 variant, each registered buyer brings a bid file on a USB drive to the sale, every parcel goes to the lowest rate bid, and ties are broken by random selection. The county publishes no tax sale page, list, or registration form of its own, so treat the office phone as the primary channel and verify timing, deposit, and list access before committing funds. Aggregator sites publish McDonough tax sale pages; none of them conduct this sale. In person, bids run through the R.A.M.S. system from Joseph E. Meyer & Associates
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 McDonough County
- The Treasurer's office page states the Treasurer shall "Act as ex-officio County Collector for the County and is also responsible for collecting property tax and mobile home tax," which puts the annual tax sale with this office. The current Treasurer is Dana Moon, and the Illinois County Treasurers Association listing gives office hours of Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 4:00.
- Certificate holders should note the county's payment page: "Subsequent Tax Payments: Must be paid in person." Keeping a lien current in McDonough means a trip to the courthouse office or a call to arrange it, since the online and phone channels are set up for regular installments only.
- The County Clerk and Recorder lists "Tax Extensions and Delinquent Taxes" among its seven main roles and is reachable at (309) 833-2474 at the same courthouse address, so redemption amounts and delinquent tax records start with that office rather than the Collector.
- Joseph E. Meyer & Associates is the delinquent tax agent behind both the R.A.M.S. bidding system and ILTaxSale.com. Parcels no buyer takes at the county sale roll into the trustee program and later resurface as trustee tax deed offerings; the McDonough County page on ILTaxSale.com shows sealed bid real estate auctions dated 07/12/2024, 08/01/2025, and 07/17/2026, plus a paid list of assignable tax lien certificates for the county. That is a separate track from the Collector's annual certificate sale.
- Parcel level tax data is public at mcdonoughil.devnetwedge.com (McDonough County Property Tax Inquiry, DEVNET), which is useful for diligence on a parcel but carries no sale list or sale date.
- The county website is served over plain HTTP and has no tax sale section at all, so no county page confirms platform, timing, deposit, or list access. Anything beyond the office contact details here should be re-verified with the Collector.
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 McDonough County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- McDonough County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the McDonough County tax certificate sale?
- Not published online. The Treasurer and Collector's site carries payment options and a parcel lookup but no tax sale calendar, and the R.A.M.S. statewide tax sale schedule listed no upcoming McDonough date when checked on 2026-07-30, so the date has to be confirmed by phone at (309) 833-2032. R.A.M.S. sale statistics do show McDonough ran annual tax sales in 2023 and 2024, offering 320 parcels in 2023 and 349 parcels worth $670,105.38 in 2024 to 11 registered buyers.. 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 McDonough 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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