An auction of 59 parcels of unclaimed land in the city of Vicksburg acquired by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office resulted in the sale of 49 tracts of vacant land and netted more than $77,000, according to information from the Secretary of State’s office.

The money received from the sale will be divided between the city, Warren County and the Vicksburg Warren School District, with 50 percent of the money going to the school district and the city and county each receiving 25 percent, or about $19,250 each.

“Over $70,000 has been bid to go toward educating Warren County children, paving Warren County roads and helping with Warren County infrastructure,” Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said. “I appreciate Mayor (George) Flaggs (Jr.) and the city of Vicksburg for a successful tax-forfeited sale and look forward to selling more parcels in the future.”

“It’s good to see that property being sold,” Flaggs said. “These were properties that were on the tax rolls but were not generating any taxes. Hopefully, the people who bought those properties will develop them and put them back on the tax rolls and paying property taxes.”

The properties were land initially up for sale at county tax sales and never sold or reclaimed by the original owner. After the property lies unclaimed for three years, it is stricken from the tax rolls and turned over to the state, where it goes into the Secretary of State’s public lands inventory.

The properties were advertised for sale, and prospective bidders had until Oct. 29 to submit bids by mail to the Secretary of State’s office. The bids were opened Nov. 2.

Bids on the properties ranged from a low of $205 to a high of $6,000. One person purchased 20 parcels through the auction, while another bought 11.

The successful bidders have been notified by the Secretary of State’s office, which will give a patent to the buyer conveying full title of the property.

Hosemann said his office usually tries to close the property sales 60 to 90 days.