If the current owner of the Schuylkill Trust Co. Building in Pottsville doesn’t pay taxes on the property in the next few months, the landmark could fall into the hands of a new owner.
Total, $99,302.85 is owed in back taxes on the property at 101 N. Centre St. for the past three years, Angela D. Toomey, director of Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau, said Tuesday.
But if the property is slated to be part of a judicial sale in the next few months, someone can get the building possibly for as little as $1,000, Toomey said.
“A judicial sale will be held in the spring, most likely in May or June. The opening bid will be the actual cost incurred by the tax claim bureau to take this property to sale. It will be approximately $1,000 and this is comprised of the cost to send the legally required sale notices, the cost to post and advertise the property, a title search fee and sheriff service fees associated with the judicial sale,” Toomey said.
The building’s current owner, James J. Curran Jr., an attorney and president of Schuylkill Land & Realty Inc., said Wednesday he won’t be able to pay back taxes on the building until his differences are resolved with the building’s primary tenant, Wells Fargo Bank.
“They have me in a situation where I can’t pay the taxes because I don’t have the presumed lease payments. The Wells Fargo Bank will not pay its rent to me. I think it’s since September ... I have to sit down and talk with them. I never agreed not to receive it. It’s very hard to make plans when you don’t know where that $11,000 is every month. What are they doing with it?” Curran said.
The Schuylkill Trust Co. Building was built in 1924, according to “Pottsville in the Twentieth Century,” a 2003 book in the Images of America series by Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major.
In recent years, the landmark has been experiencing troubled times.
In September, David J. Petravich, city building code officer, cited Curran for failing to make repairs to the sections of the building’s crumbling facade.
That month Wells Fargo Bank took precautions to protect pedestrians from potential falling debris. The bank hired Beth-Allen Scaffold & Equipment, Allentown, to build a covered walkway over the sidewalk. It runs along the North Centre Street and West Market Street sides of the building.
“We have no new information to share. We continue to provide scaffolding around the building at our expense in order to protect our customers, team members and pedestrians,” James A. Baum, a Wells Fargo regional communications representative for Pennsylvania, said Wednesday.
Also in September, the property was included in a Schuylkill County upset sale. But there were no bidders willing to pay $292,665 for the property.
“That amount included $97,253 in back taxes for the city, county and school district from 2013, 2014 and 2015, plus municipal liens and state and federal claims,” Toomey said at the time.
“There were no bids received on the parcel therefore exposure to a judicial sale will be the next step in the process of attempting to return the parcel to the tax rolls,” Toomey said Tuesday.
A judicial sale is a “free and clear” sale, Toomey said.
“However, the tax claim bureau never guarantees title to any property sold by us, at any type of sale. The advantage of a judicial sale, from the purchaser’s standpoint, is that the properties are sold free and clear of liens and encumbrances, to the best of the bureau’s ability. A judicial sale requires a tremendous amount of work, including, but not limited to, a title search, a petition presented to the Court of Common Pleas and Sheriff’s service on all owners and lien holders,” Toomey said.
“The owner can retain the property prior to the sale by satisfying the delinquent taxes in full,” Toomey said.
And she provided a list of the taxes owed on the property over the past three years:
A total of $35,056.03 is owed for 2013. That includes taxes from the following entities:
• County, $6,882.59
• Municipality, $9,917.35
• School district, $18,256.09
A total of $33,504.56 is owned for 2014. That includes taxes from the following entities:
• County, $6,983.96
• Municipality, $9,656.93
• School district, $16,863.67
A total of $30,742,26 is owed for 2015. That includes taxes from the following entities:
• County, $6,411.43
• Municipality, $8,859.57
• School district, $15,471.26
The grand total owed at this point is $99,302.85, Toomey said.
“If the property is not sold at judicial sale, the property can be purchased through the county repository for unsold properties upon receiving a bid that is approved by the bureau and all three taxing bodies without further notice to the owner,” Toomey said.
The city hasn’t cited the owner of the building since September, Petravich said Wednesday.