The following is a list of procedures that must be followed in order to participate in our tax sale as well as the format of the sale.
1. Any person who, in any calendar year:(a) Pays or plans to pay directly, indirectly, or through another or others, more than five (5) certificates of delinquency statewide;(b) Pays or plans to pay directly, indirectly, or through another or others, more than three (3) certificates of delinquency in any county; or(c) Invests or plans to invest directly, indirectly, or through another or others, more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the payment of certificates of delinquency on a statewide basis in any calendar year; shall register with the Department of Revenue annually. Forms and instructions can be located on their website http://www.revenue.ky.gov/Property+Tax/.
Finance and Administration Cabinet
Department of Revenue
Office of Property Valuation
P O Box 1202
Frankfort, KY 40602-1202
502-564-8338
2. To participate in the Lottery Sale, you must also register with the Jefferson County Clerk's Office at least 1 week in advance of the sale (No later than July 10, 2026). The sale date is July 17, 2026, with the drawing at 3:00pm. Participants are welcome but not required to be present for the drawing (see note below). The drawing will be held in Room 106 in Metro Hall, 527 W Jefferson Street. There will be signs posted and if there is a change in the location, we will have someone there to point participants in the right direction.
Note: Starting in 2026, our drawing for lottery sale pick order will be automated. A representative no longer needs to be present at the drawing, and a purchaser will not be penalized for failing to appear as long as their registration is submitted and approved within the registration deadline. The lottery sale will continue to be automated and performed after business hours on the day of the sale.
- The fee for this registration is $10.00per bill up to a maximum of $250.00 for the Lottery Sale or $5.00 per bill up to a maximum of $250.00 for the Priority Sale discussed below. The most anyone will pay for participating in both sales is $250.00.
- You must sign and complete the form located on this page with the following information provided.
a.) Purchaser's Name
b.) Mailing Address (physical and P.O. Box)
c.) Telephone Number
- You must complete an affidavit affirming that the purchaser is not related to any other individual or entity that will be participating in the sale. The affidavit must be notarized. If the purchaser is an entity, the purchaser shall provide the name of a contact person who can be reached at the address and phone number provided.
- Because the lottery sale is conducted electronically, one representative is allowed to witness the drawing for multiple entities. However, other sales completed throughout the year require one representative for each entity, because the bills are also sold at that time. You can read more about these types of sales under “Tax Sale Guidelines (when bills removed from protected list)”.
- You must provide a copy of your registration certificate from the Department of Revenue.
3. Submission Lists for the Priority Sale: No later than 10 days prior to the sale date (July 2, 2026), third-party purchasers with prior year certificates will be permitted to submit lists electronically (in Microsoft Excel) using our Bill Submission Template located on this page; along with 100% of the funds to cover these lists (either by wire or certified check). This list will be to purchase 2025 bills for which they have priority to purchase due to prior year certificates of delinquency. The list must include the following information. Please be sure that the columns appear in the order we have listed in our template. The list must include the following information.
- Parcel ID
- 2025 tax bill number
- Tax Year
- Property Address
- Current amount due for 2025 (as of the date of the sale)
- Total of all certificates requested including the $30.00 fee for the assignment and recording of the lis pendens for each bill.
- (Unreleased) Prior year for certificate bill number
Please submit your registration forms and fees with your Priority Sale lists if you plan to participate in the Priority Sale. If not, you can submit your registration with your Lottery Sale list to Deltax@JeffersonCountyClerk.org
We will post the submission lists for these sales on our website as they are submitted. The bills appearing on these lists will be prepared for assignment and removed from the actual lottery sale list prior to the sale process being completed by the computer system. The assignments will be completed in a timely manner no earlier than the date of the sale.
4. Submission of Lists of Certificates for the Lottery Sale: At the same time the registration sheet is submitted at least 1 week before the sale (July 10, 2026), an electronic list of certificates of delinquency you are interested in purchasing at the sale shall be submitted listing the bills in priority order and using our Bill Submission Template located on this page. The bills should be listed from most desirable to least desirable. The list should include the following information. Please be sure that the columns appear in the order we have in our template
- Parcel ID
- 2025 tax bill number
- Tax Year
- Property Address
- Current amount due for 2025 (as of the date of the sale)
- Total of all certificates requested including the $30.00 fee for the assignment and recording of the Lis Pendens for each bill.
- A 25% deposit will be required when the list is submitted with the balance due when the sale is complete by either wire or certified funds. The deposit is based on the whole list of bills including the recording fees.
- REFUNDS – The JCCO will be happy to wire refunds if that is the method used by the third-party to pay the 25% deposit. However, the third party's wire information must be submitted at the time of the JCCO registration. There is space provided on the registration form located on this page.
5. Due to the volume of bills in Jefferson County, the sale will be conducted in the following manner:
- We will hold a drawing of all registered participants to determine the order of the sale. Each entity will be allowed to purchase bills in this order until all bills are sold.
- Bills will be sold in lots of 1 for all rounds of the sale.
- Due to volume, it would not be possible to complete this sale timely and efficiently with all parties present. The lists should be submitted in priority orderso that we can determine which bills will be assigned to each third party. Each party will receive the next available bill on their list for all rounds until all the bills are sold or all the lists are exhausted.
- All funds must be either wired to our account or submitted by certified check or cashier's check made payable to the Jefferson County Clerk.
