Dawson County, NE tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Bidding position, not price, is what the sale allocates. Numbers are drawn at random and posted at the sale site the morning of the sale, so an investor cannot improve a return by bidding, only by choosing which parcels to take when their number comes up.
• •Original certificates are held by the Treasurer to reduce the risk of loss. Copies are mailed or emailed after the sale, and the office confirms the final purchase total by email, fax or letter once processing is done.
• •Taxes a property owner pays while the sale is being processed are deducted from the buyer's purchase total.
• •Interest runs at 14 percent from the date of sale to the date of redemption. A $22.00 non-refundable fee is collected on redemption, on assignment, and when a change of certificate ownership is executed.
• •Assignments within 45 days require a notarized letter directing the assignment, a $25.00 fee per certificate, and a copy of the cancelled check to the assignor showing consideration was given.
• •Subsequent taxes may be paid as they go delinquent during the life of the certificate, but not before May 1 and September 1 of the following year. The office asks buyers to wait until the third week of those months, because payments received by mail are processed first.
• •Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1818 changed purchaser duties: the certificate buyer must notify the record owner by personal service that the taxes were bought at the tax sale. Registration requirements changed with it, so read the current packet rather than an older one.
• •Parcels in bankruptcy are not offered. If a parcel is taken into bankruptcy or by a government entity after purchase, the county directs the buyer to an attorney. A certificate bought in error cannot be handed back.
• •Two routes to title exist once the redemption period runs: serve the statutory notice and apply to the Treasurer for a tax deed, or foreclose the certificate in Dawson County District Court. Deeds and foreclosure decrees are recorded with the Dawson County Register of Deeds at 308-324-4271.
• •Parcels can be researched at the Treasurer's office in Lexington or through Nebraska Taxes Online. The published list may not include unpaid taxes from prior years.

Nebraska rules

Max interest rate

14% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01 - Interest; political subdivisions; delinquent taxes; special assessmentsNeb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01Verified Aug 23, 2026

Minimum return

No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rateNeb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01 - Interest; political subdivisions; delinquent taxes; special assessmentsNeb. Rev. Stat. 45-104.01Verified Aug 23, 2026

Redemption

Nebraska does not run a redemption clock that simply expires. The right to redeem stays open until the certificate holder files the application for a tax deed with the county treasurer, and the treasurer may not accept a redemption after the close of business on the day that application arrives. Because the holder cannot apply until three years after the sale, and must first serve a notice at least three months before applying that says in sixteen point type UNLESS YOU ACT YOU WILL LOSE THIS PROPERTY, the ordinary parcel carries a redemption window of about three years and three months and the owner gets a written warning inside it. Several conditions of the parcel or of its owner change that window, and they are recorded as tracks below. On the foreclosure road the window is different again: redemption stays open until the district court confirms the sheriff's sale.Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824 - Real property taxes; redemption from sale; when and how madeNeb. Rev. Stat. 77-1824Verified Aug 23, 2026

Surplus proceeds

Nebraska returns the owner's equity on both roads. On the administrative road, within thirty days after the deed is recorded the grantee must pay the surplus to the previous owner. The surplus is the resale price if the grantee has already sold the parcel, or the assessed value shown in the county assessor's records at the time of the deed application if the grantee has not, less the amount that would have been needed to redeem the parcel, less the amount needed to pay all encumbrances on it, and less an administrative fee of five hundred dollars, or reasonable attorney fees in the case of a judicial foreclosure, which the grantee may keep to offset the cost of getting the deed. On the foreclosure road, any surplus remaining after all costs and taxes on a parcel are satisfied is applied the way surplus is applied in a mortgage foreclosure, and proceeds from one parcel may not be applied to the taxes on another except as the decree directs.Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1838 - Real property taxes; issuance of treasurer's tax deed; execution, acknowledgment, and recording; effect; lien for special assessments; pay surplus to previous ownerNeb. Rev. Stat. 77-1838Verified Aug 23, 2026

Governing statute

Neb. Rev. Stat. Chapter 77, Article 18 (77-1801 et seq.)Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801 - Real property taxes; collection by sale; whenNeb. Rev. Stat. 77-1801Verified Aug 23, 2026

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.

See the full Nebraskarules and every county →