JOHNSTOWN - The first-ever joint Fulton County-Hamilton County tax-delinquent property auction yielded mixed results for the counties.

Fulton County government's sales at the June 17 auction generated about $65,000 less than was owed on the properties in taxes, but some county officials said they are happy to have certain parcels back on the tax rolls.

"We lost money in Gloversville, but we made money in the towns, so it was pretty successful," said James Callery, chairman of the Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee.

Fulton County officials invited Hamilton County to participate in the auction this year. It was conducted by Haroff Auction & Realty Inc. of Schroon Lake, Essex County, at the local Holiday Inn.

Hamilton County netted $262,000 in the auction - $227,000 more than the county was owed in taxes on the parcels.

Fulton County Treasurer Michelle Ippoliti said 47 of her county's tax-delinquent properties went to auction this year.

She said high bids on 30 of the properties will require Board of Supervisors approval because they were less than the minimum price set by the county. Twelve of the properties drew bids over the minimum and don't require board approval; five of the properties didn't receive any bids at all.

Ippoliti said the county had properties on which $388,824 was owed in taxes. She said the auction brought in $323,800 in bids - a loss of $65,024 to the county.

This was the third annual auction including properties obtained by the county in Gloversville through Operation Green Scene. The county had demolished structures on 12 of the 18 Gloverville properties.

Ippoliti said the county took a loss of $194,000 on the Gloversville properties.

"I did expect a larger loss due to Operation Green Scene," she said.

But Ippoliti said the parcels in the towns realized a $129,000 gain.

"There were several reasons why Gloversville was down," Ippoliti said, including the fact that the majority of the parcels were vacant.

Ippoliti said the county sold the former Manor House restaurant property on South Main Street in Gloversville, but the bid was under the minimum and has to go to the Board of Supervisors for final approval. She declined to identify the Manor House buyer. Delinquent taxes on the parcel go back to 1995.

Hamilton County Treasurer Beth Hunt said she was thrilled by the results of the auction, which sold eight tax-delinquent properties in her county.

"We got rid of them all," she said last week.

Hunt said the Hamilton County Board of Supervisors accepted the bids on the properties, which had a total tax delinquency of about $35,000. She said the county's success was largely due to a $137,000 bid for a property with a small cottage in Indian Lake that only had a tax delinquency of $13,000.

Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com