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Tax Sale Atlas

Platte County, NE tax sales

How tax lien sales work in Platte County, seat of Columbus: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.

New to tax sales? Read how Nebraska tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
Nebraska holds no tax deed auction.
Format
In person
Registration
Pre-registration is mandatory and carries a $25.00 application fee that is not refundable.
County office
402-563-4913
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 24, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Platte County sells delinquent taxes

From lien to deed

Nebraska holds no county tax deed auction. A certificate holder reaches title down one of two roads, and which road is available depends on how much equity is in the parcel. Three years after the date of the tax sale, and after serving the Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1831 notice at least three months in advance, the holder may apply to the county treasurer for a tax deed. That road is open only where 110 percent of the parcel's assessed value at the time of the application, less the amount that would be needed to redeem it, is twenty five thousand dollars or less. Where the equity is larger the holder must instead foreclose the certificate in the district court of the county where the land lies, in the same manner as a real estate mortgage foreclosure. Either step has to be taken within nine months after the expiration of three years from the date of sale, or nine months after two years where the holder is a land bank and the parcel qualifies as vacant and abandoned. Missing the window voids the certificate.

Tax certificate sale (lien)

In person
Run by
Platte County Treasurer's Office
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
The annual public tax sale opens the first Monday in March.
Registration
Pre-registration is mandatory and carries a $25.00 application fee that is not refundable.
Next expected
on the first Monday in March, 2027 (window; exact date posts closer to the sale)
Sale list
Delinquent Tax Listing, Platte County Treasurer
When it runs
The annual public tax sale opens the first Monday in March. The Treasurer's public tax sale information states that "Delinquent taxes are advertised the first three weeks in February" and "The Public Tax Sale opens the first Monday in March." Bidding starts at 9:00 a.m. and doors open at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Room of the Platte County Courthouse, 2610 14th Street, Columbus.
Registration and deposit

Pre-registration is mandatory and carries a $25.00 application fee that is not refundable. The deadline is 5 p.m. on the Friday before the sale. Return the Treasurer's tax sale registration form with a completed W-9 and a signed blank check to the Platte County Treasurer's Office. The form collects the mailing address for redemptions and certificates and the exact name to print on certificates and checks. Each company may be represented by only one individual, and one individual may not represent multiple companies.

Sale format and venue
Platte County allocates certificates by round robin, not by competitive bidding. Registered buyers sign in on sale morning and are given a bidder number and a seat, parcels are offered from the largest tax amount down to the smallest, and bidder number 1 chooses to buy or pass the first parcel with the turn then passing in order. Interest is the fixed 14 percent statutory rate, so no rate and no premium is bid. Purchases must be made in person, and the county allows no telephone, fax or online buying. Each certificate carries a $20.00 certificate fee under Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1823 plus a $5.00 advertising fee, and neither is refunded on redemption. Certificates are written after the sale, with copies mailed to buyers in about 7 to 14 days and originals kept in the Treasurer's office. Buyers should pay subsequent taxes as they become delinquent, supplying parcel numbers, certificate numbers and a blank check. A certificate is held three years from the sale date before the holder may begin foreclosure in district court under Neb. Rev. Stat. 77-1902, which is the alternative to applying for a treasurer's tax deed after serving the statutory notice. The county does not give legal advice on either route and requires a holder who files a foreclosure to notify the office of the court case and to send a copy of any dismissal.
Source: Public Tax Sale Information, Platte County Treasurer (PDF)· Verified Aug 24, 2026

Platte County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Platte County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Delinquent Tax Listing, Platte County Treasurer for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Pre-registration is mandatory and carries a $25.00 application fee that is not refundable. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    Nebraska holds no tax deed auction. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use County Treasurer for the administrative deed, or the sheriff under a district court decree as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Platte County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent Tax Listing, Platte County Treasurer. Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Pre-registration is mandatory and carries a $25.00 application fee that is not refundable. The deadline is 5 p.m. on the Friday before the sale. Return the Treasurer's tax sale registration form with a completed W-9 and a signed blank check to the Platte County Treasurer's Office. The form collects the mailing address for redemptions and certificates and the exact name to print on certificates and checks. Each company may be represented by only one individual, and one individual may not represent multiple companies.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Nebraska due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases

Two routes reach parcels outside the March sale, and both run through the county treasurer. Any parcel that stayed unsold at the public sale for want of bidders must then be sold at private sale at the treasurer's office to any person who pays the taxes, penalty, and costs; the certificate issued that way is marked sold for taxes at private sale. Separately, where the county board bought a parcel in the county's name because it drew no bidder, the treasurer holds that certificate and may assign it at any time to anyone willing to pay the face amount plus 14 percent interest from the date of the certificate, with the county clerk endorsing the assignment and the twenty five dollar issuance fee due from the buyer. If the parcel lies inside a municipality that has created a land bank, the treasurer must give the land bank the first opportunity to acquire the county's certificate. Ask the county treasurer which parcels are open to private sale and which county held certificates are available for assignment.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.

Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.

County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Platte County Treasurer's Office

402-563-4913

Platte County Courthouse, 2610 14th Street, Columbus, NE 68601. Mailing address: P.O. Box 967, Columbus, NE 68602.

Official website

County notes

  • Jenny Reppert is the Treasurer and Amanda Gilbert is the Deputy Treasurer. The office sits on the first floor, west side of the Platte County Courthouse and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month.
  • The sale list is advertised in the Columbus Telegram and the Humphrey Democrat during February, and the county posts a copy on the Treasurer's page. The Property Tax Administrator posts a statewide list of tax sale properties on the Nebraska Department of Revenue website.
  • The Treasurer publishes the tax sale rules and the registration form on the Treasurer's page ahead of each sale. Call 402-563-4913 if the current year's copies are not yet posted.
  • The March 2026 sale drew 24 registered buyers, 22 of whom attended, and sold 119 certificates from the 138 parcels offered against a published list of 244 properties.
  • Real estate and personal property taxes are due December 31, with the first half delinquent the following May 1 and the second half delinquent September 1. Delinquent balances accrue the 14 percent statutory rate.

Nebraska rules

Max interest rate
14% per year, fixed by statute (nothing is bid)
Minimum return
No statutory floor; every certificate earns the same statutory rate
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.
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.
Governing statute
Neb. Rev. Stat. Chapter 77, Article 18 (77-1801 et seq.)

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 →

Frequently asked questions

Does Platte County, Nebraska sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Tax lien certificates. In Nebraska investors buy the lien, not the property; the County Treasurer runs the sale.

When is the Platte County tax certificate sale?

The annual public tax sale opens the first Monday in March. The Treasurer's public tax sale information states that "Delinquent taxes are advertised the first three weeks in February" and "The Public Tax Sale opens the first Monday in March." Bidding starts at 9:00 a.m. and doors open at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Room of the Platte County Courthouse, 2610 14th Street, Columbus. The sale is held in person. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Platte County hold tax deed sales?

Platte County holds its tax deed sale none. Nebraska holds no tax deed auction. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Nebraska's redemption rule: 3 years from the tax sale before the holder may apply for a treasurer's tax deed, and the owner may redeem right up to the day that application is filed. Call the County Treasurer for the administrative deed, or the sheriff under a district court decree as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Platte County tax sale list?

Platte County posts its tax sale list at plattecounty.ne.gov. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 24, 2026 against official county and state sources.

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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Compare sale calendars, platforms, and rules across the state, or read the guides before you bid.

Nebraska tax salesDue diligence guide
Call Platte County Treasurer's Office