Mercer County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Mercer County, seat of Aledo: 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 Mercer County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Mercer County Treasurer, serving as ex officio Mercer County Collector (Treasurer Bev Lower). The Mercer County Clerk handles check-in payments alongside the Collector at the sale.
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Early November, held immediately after Henry County's sale on the same morning. The Treasurer's page states: "Annual Tax Sale will be held: November 6th, 2026, at 10 a.m. in Henry County, Cambridge IL. Henry County tax sale will be 1st and Mercer County to follow." The tax buyer letter repeats it: "Mercer County will hold the annual tax sale at 10:00 A.M. on November 6th, 2026 at the Henry County Courthouse in Cambridge, IL." The same page also lists a prior-year sale on November 7, 2025 in Cambridge, so early November is the pattern. Related deadlines on the page: delinquent notices mailed October 5, 2026; "To avoid publication payments must be in the office by: October 7th, 2026 BY 4 p.m."; and "LAST DAY TO PAY TAXES NOVEMBER 4th, 2026, IN OFFICE BY 4 P.M."
Registration and deposit
Register in advance with the Mercer County Treasurer using the tax sale registration form posted on the Treasurer's page. The county lists the cost as "$100 FOR REGISTRATION $100 FOR LIST OF PROPERTIES TO BE SOLD." The buyer letter states "The registration must be accompanied by a registration fee of $100.00 which, $100.00 will be applied to your purchases at the tax sale" and "The deposit will be forfeited if the registrant does not attend the sale nor does not purchase taxes." The list fee is separate: "The fee for the list is $100.00 and is not a part of the registration fee. The list will be e-mailed to you from the office of Joe Meyers & Assoc. and will be updated by them as we get closer to the actual sale date." At check-in, "The County Clerk/Collector will take a blank check made out to Mercer County Collector." Two cautions: the buyer letter's registration cutoff sentence is cut off mid-date on the county page (it reads "before or on October" with no day), and the registration form download link on that page was not resolving when checked on July 30, 2026. Confirm both the cutoff date and get the form directly from the Treasurer's office.
This is an in-person sale, and it is not held in Mercer County. Mercer County's annual tax sale takes place at the Henry County Courthouse in Cambridge, Illinois, roughly 30 miles from the Mercer County seat of Aledo, and it begins only after Henry County's own 10 a.m. sale finishes. Bidding uses Joseph E. Meyer & Associates' R.A.M.S. 2 system: buyers attend in person and submit a file of their interest-rate bids on a flash drive rather than bidding online, with each parcel awarded to the lowest rate bid and ties broken at random. No online bidding platform is confirmed for this county's annual tax sale, so verify any third-party site with the Treasurer's office before relying on it. The Treasurer also publishes a sale-in-error policy for buyers: "The Treasurer will review all Motions for Sale in Error's: The Treasurer will object in court to any Sale in Error's if you buy back taxes that have had a prior sale in error," and cites 35 ILCS 200/21-310 grounds where no interest is paid, including improvements destroyed after the tax sale, hazardous waste unknown to the buyer at sale, municipal liens under 22-35, and denial of deed under 22-50. Separately from the annual sale, the county links to a trustee "Silent Auction Trustee Tax Sale" run through Joseph E. Meyer & Associates at iltaxsale.com, where property booklets cost $5 and can also be bought at the Treasurer's office on the second floor at 100 SE 3rd St, Aledo. The trustee sale dates shown on the county page are from a prior year, so call for the current bid deadline. Payment rules tighten before the sale: no personal checks or credit card payments are accepted in the 30 days before the tax sale, and after October 5, 2026 credit card and e-check payment is shut off for publication, leaving bank cashier's check, money order, or cash. In person at the Henry County Courthouse in Cambridge, Illinois, with bidding automated by Joseph E. Meyer & Associates using the R.A.M.S. 2 system. There is no online auction site for this sale.
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)
Mercer County Treasurer and County Collector
100 SE Third Street, Aledo, IL 61231
Official websiteNotes for Mercer County
- Mercer County's annual tax sale is physically held in another county: the Henry County Courthouse in Cambridge, Illinois, following Henry County's own sale that starts at 10 a.m.
- Bidding is in person through Joseph E. Meyer & Associates' R.A.M.S. 2 system, where registered buyers bring a flash drive holding their rate bids. There is no online bidding site for this sale.
- Registration costs $100 and is credited toward purchases, but is forfeited if the registrant does not attend or buys nothing. The parcel list is a separate $100 and is emailed by Joseph E. Meyer & Associates.
- Bring a blank check made payable to Mercer County Collector for check-in; the County Clerk and Collector collect it together.
- The Treasurer states she will object in court to a motion for sale in error if the buyer purchased back taxes that had a prior sale in error, and cites 35 ILCS 200/21-310 grounds where no interest is paid.
- The county also points investors to a separate trustee silent auction at iltaxsale.com with $5 property booklets, but the dates shown on the county page are from an earlier year.
- The registration form link on the Treasurer's page was not resolving on July 30, 2026, and the buyer letter's registration cutoff sentence is cut off mid-date, so confirm both with the office at (309) 582-2524.
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 Mercer County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Mercer County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Mercer County tax certificate sale?
- Early November, held immediately after Henry County's sale on the same morning. The Treasurer's page states: "Annual Tax Sale will be held: November 6th, 2026, at 10 a.m. in Henry County, Cambridge IL. Henry County tax sale will be 1st and Mercer County to follow." The tax buyer letter repeats it: "Mercer County will hold the annual tax sale at 10:00 A.M. on November 6th, 2026 at the Henry County Courthouse in Cambridge, IL." The same page also lists a prior-year sale on November 7, 2025 in Cambridge, so early November is the pattern. Related deadlines on the page: delinquent notices mailed October 5, 2026; "To avoid publication payments must be in the office by: October 7th, 2026 BY 4 p.m."; and "LAST DAY TO PAY TAXES NOVEMBER 4th, 2026, IN OFFICE BY 4 P.M.". 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 Mercer 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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