Tazewell County, IL tax sales
How tax lien certificate and tax deed sales work in Tazewell County, seat of Pekin: 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 Tazewell County sells delinquent taxes
Tax certificate sale (lien)
- Run by
- Tazewell County Treasurer's Office, which also serves as the County Collector (Treasurer Hannah M. Clark)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Annual sale each October. The Treasurer's Real Estate Taxes page states "Tax sale date is Monday, October 19, 2026." The prior cycle's registration form set the 2024 payable 2025 sale for "October 20, 2025" at "10:00 a.m.", so expect a Monday in mid to late October, after the September second-installment due date.
Registration and deposit
Only registered tax buyers may bid. The Treasurer's R.A.M.S. 2 Tax Sale Registration Form asks for bidder name, SSN or FEIN, bidding company, address, phone and email, and must arrive with a completed W-9 and a $100.00 registration fee payable to the Tazewell County Treasurer. For the 2024 payable 2025 sale the form states everything had to be received at the Treasurer's office "by 4:30pm on October 6, 2025", roughly two weeks before the sale, and that late delivery by the postal service is not excused. The $100.00 check is returned to buyers who attend and bid, and the fee covers a printed and emailed list of delinquent parcels. Buyers agree to pay all balances due at the end of the sale using a signed blank check, only one bidder may bid per registration, and certificates are titled to the registered name. Confirm the current cycle's deadline and fee with the office before mailing.
This is an IN-PERSON courthouse-style sale, not an online auction. The registration form gives the location as the "Tazewell County Justice Center", 101 South Capitol, Pekin, IL 61554, in "The Community Room", starting at 10:00 a.m. R.A.M.S. 2 is the bidding software used at that in-person sale rather than a remote bidding website, so no online bidding platform is confirmed for this county, verify with the office. Tazewell does not post a public pre-sale delinquent parcel list: the list is supplied to buyers as part of the $100.00 registration fee, in printed or emailed form. What the county does publish is the post-sale read list, which shows how bidding actually cleared: most 2024 tax year parcels sold at 3.00% or 4.00%, consistent with Illinois bid-down-interest, while parcels with no bidder were struck to the county trustee, listed as "TRUSTEE - JOSEPH E. MEYER & ASSOCIATES", at 9.00%. The read list also shows the cost structure added to each certificate, a $10.00 presale cost and a $110.00 postsale cost per parcel. As of this research the registration form posted on the county site still covered the 2024 payable 2025 cycle even though the Real Estate Taxes page had moved the sale date to October 2026, so call the Treasurer to obtain the current cycle's form and deadline. R.A.M.S. 2 automated bidding system, operated in person by the Treasurer'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)
Tazewell County Treasurer and County Collector
McKenzie Building, 11 S. 4th St., Suite 308, Pekin, IL 61554 (mailing address on the tax buyer registration form: P.O. Box 490, Pekin, IL 61554)
Official websiteNotes for Tazewell County
- The county's official domain is tazewell-il.gov. The older tazewell.com hostname resolves to it but fails TLS negotiation, so use tazewell-il.gov links.
- Office hours are listed as 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. The registration form lists a fax of (309) 347-4621.
- Second-installment delinquency drives the October sale: 2025 taxes payable in 2026 were due June 1, 2026 and September 1, 2026, with interest of 1.5% per month on late payments.
- The Treasurer's page summarizes the investor mechanics plainly: "If taxes are not paid, taxes are sold to registered tax buyers. Additional interest and penalty will be added by the tax buyer."
- Redemption research runs through the County Clerk, John C. Ackerman, at the McKenzie Building, 11 S. 4th Street, 2nd Floor Suite 203, Pekin, IL 61554, phone 309-477-2264. The Clerk's Tax Information page publishes a Tax Buyer Contact Information PDF listing certificate holders with mailing addresses and phone numbers, alongside annual tax rate books and tax computation reports.
- Property tax records are searchable at the county's DevNet Wedge portal, tazewellil.devnetwedge.com, which is useful for checking parcel status before a sale.
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 Tazewell County, Illinois sell tax liens or tax deeds?
- Tazewell County follows Illinois's tax lien state system.
When is the Tazewell County tax certificate sale?
- Annual sale each October. The Treasurer's Real Estate Taxes page states "Tax sale date is Monday, October 19, 2026." The prior cycle's registration form set the 2024 payable 2025 sale for "October 20, 2025" at "10:00 a.m.", so expect a Monday in mid to late October, after the September second-installment due date.. 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 Tazewell 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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