Land · Alaska tax foreclosure guide

Ketchikan Gateway Borough tax foreclosure sales, Alaska

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The Borough assesses property as of January 1, real property assessment notices are typically mailed by mid to late January, and the Assembly sets the mill rate each year as part of the budget process, with the mill levy set before June 15. The FY 2027 budget reflects a 4.85 mill areawide property tax adopted by the Assembly on June 2, 2025, with the entire areawide rate dedicated to the Local Education Fund. The City of Ketchikan process summary adds the collection steps the Borough follows on behalf of the City: if taxes remain unpaid after one year they become delinquent, the Borough sends notices about the delinquent taxes and the potential consequences including foreclosure, owners are typically given a specific timeframe to pay the delinquent taxes and penalties, and Borough staff work with owners on repayment plans and make every effort to avoid foreclosure before a foreclosure action is filed.

Selling office: Ketchikan Gateway Borough Finance Department, 1900 First Ave., Suite 118, Ketchikan, AK 99901, Phone: (907) 228-6620

Next sale: No dated tax foreclosure sale is published for Ketchikan Gateway Borough. A City of Ketchikan surplus property report dated November 14, 2025 lists tax foreclosure parcels still being prepared, most of them with the note that the City Attorney is to prepare the parcel for tax foreclosure sale, and it gives no sale date, time, or place.. A sale of a city held foreclosed parcel follows a public hearing and an ordinance to sell or designate the property, and the former owner may buy back the property any time before the sale or designation. Watch City Council and Borough Assembly agendas for that ordinance, and ask the Borough Finance Department at (907) 228-6620 about any parcel on the surplus list.

Watch the City of Ketchikan surplus property reports and City Council agendas for the ordinance that moves a named tax foreclosure parcel to sale, because the November 14, 2025 report shows parcels in preparation with no date set. For a borough held parcel outside a city, watch Borough Assembly actions and ask the Finance Department directly.

Dates and deadlines

Sources: Ketchikan Gateway Borough Finance Department. Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assessment Process. City of Ketchikan, Tax Foreclosure Steps, February 14, 2025 memorandum. City of Ketchikan, Surplus Property Report, November 14, 2025. Ketchikan Gateway Borough FY 2027 Summary Budget. Confirm with the selling office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and parcels are pulled up to sale day.

Research Ketchikan Gateway Borough parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Ketchikan Gateway Borough, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Alaska tax foreclosures work

• Foreclosure is municipal and annual. A municipality enforces delinquent real property tax liens by annual foreclosure, unless it provides otherwise by ordinance (AS 29.45.320).
• The foreclosure list goes to court. The municipality presents a petition for judgment with a certified foreclosure list for the previous year delinquent taxes in superior court, publishes the list for four consecutive weeks, and mails notice to the last known owner of each property within 10 days of the first publication (AS 29.45.330).
• Delinquencies can be cleared to the last moment. During publication and at any time up to transfer to the municipality, a person may pay the taxes with penalty, interest and costs, and the payment is noted on the list (AS 29.45.340).
• Judgment and transfer. One general foreclosure proceeding in rem ends in a judgment and decree foreclosing each lien, and foreclosed properties are transferred to the municipality for the lien amount; the certified judgment delivered to the municipal clerk is the transfer (AS 29.45.360, 29.45.380 and 29.45.390).
• The redemption year. The municipality holds transferred property for at least one year. A party with an interest in the property may redeem it during that year by paying the lien amount plus penalties, interest and costs, and the former owner keeps possession through the year unless waste is committed (AS 29.45.400 and 29.45.430).
• Expiration and deed. The clerk publishes a redemption expiration notice once a week for four consecutive weeks and mails it by certified mail to record owners, and to lienholders where assessed value exceeds $10,000; redemption expires 30 days after the first publication. The court clerk then deeds unredeemed property to the borough outside all cities, or to the city inside a city, and the conveyance gives clear title (AS 29.45.440 and 29.45.450).
• Sale, repurchase, and surplus. The municipality decides by ordinance whether deeded property is kept for a public purpose or sold, and sets its own sale method. The record owner may repurchase within 10 years and before any sale, at the judgment amount plus interest of up to 15 percent a year, the taxes that would have accrued, and the municipality costs. On a sale of property held under 10 years and never set aside for a public purpose, proceeds above the taxes, penalty, interest and costs belong to the former record owner on a claim filed within six months (AS 29.45.460, 29.45.470 and 29.45.480).

How buying works in Ketchikan Gateway Borough

No bidder registration, bidder number, or registration deadline for a tax foreclosure sale is published in the Borough or City pages reviewed.

• Where buying happens At the municipality own sale of tax foreclosed property, announced locally after the redemption year closes and the deed issues. Each jurisdiction page names the office, the sale method, the list, and the terms that office publishes.
• No statewide auction exists Alaska law runs no state or county auction of liens or deeds. A buyer watches two documents: the annual foreclosure list, which starts the process, and the later sale notice for deeded property, which is where buying actually happens (AS 29.45.330 and 29.45.460).
• The seller keeps options Until a sale closes, the municipality may keep the parcel for a public purpose, and the former owner may still repurchase it. A parcel on a sale list can leave the list either way, so the current list from the selling office governs.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

If a sale brings more than the amount due

The City of Ketchikan process summary says notice of any proceeds in excess of the amount due must be sent to the prior owner for a proper claim of the remaining funds. Under Alaska law, on property held less than 10 years after the redemption period and never designated for a public purpose, the former record owner claims that excess within six months of the sale. The summary also notes that if the City holds the deed for more than 10 years, it can sell or designate the property by motion or resolution instead of the hearing and ordinance process.

Before you bid

• Count the redemption year A foreclosure list is not a sale list. Property on this year list is at least a year from any deed, and lists shrink hard as owners redeem during the year. Plan on the sale notice for deeded property, not the foreclosure list.
• Check the repurchase window Even deeded property can be repurchased by the record owner for up to 10 years, at any time before the municipality sells it. A published sale can lose its best parcel to a repurchase the week before it runs.
• Remote land, real costs Much Alaska tax foreclosed land is remote, unsurveyed, landlocked or reachable only by air or water, and access, survey and title work sit with the buyer. Read the selling office own cautions on each list before pricing a parcel.

Every Alaska jurisdiction in this set

One page per jurisdiction, each verified against the jurisdiction's own publications and the current text of AS 29.45.320 to 29.45.480. Alaska foreclosure is municipal, so sale methods differ by borough and city; this set is the 10 jurisdictions that carry the state property tax base.

• Municipality of Anchorage tax foreclosure sales
• Fairbanks North Star Borough tax foreclosure sales
• City and Borough of Juneau tax foreclosure sales
• Kenai Peninsula Borough tax foreclosure sales
• Matanuska-Susitna Borough tax foreclosure sales
• Ketchikan Gateway Borough (this page)
• Kodiak Island Borough tax foreclosure sales
• City and Borough of Sitka tax foreclosure sales
• City of Bethel tax foreclosure sales
• City of Nome tax foreclosure sales

Keep going

Once a deadline puts you in a sale, the Land Investor Due Diligence Toolkit is the checklist and bid worksheet to run on each parcel before you bid. The same desk runs Florida tax deed sales, Texas tax sales, Pennsylvania tax sales, Georgia tax sales, North Carolina tax foreclosure sales, Ohio tax foreclosure sales, Illinois tax lien sales, Michigan tax foreclosure sales, Arizona tax lien sales, California tax defaulted property sales, Colorado tax lien sales, South Carolina tax sales, Indiana tax lien sales, Tennessee delinquent tax sales, Wisconsin tax deed sales, Missouri tax sales, New Jersey tax lien sales, Maryland tax lien sales, West Virginia tax sales, Virginia tax sales, Oklahoma tax resale, Kansas tax foreclosure sales, Arkansas tax-delinquent land sales, Alabama tax sales, Kentucky certificate of delinquency sales, Mississippi tax land sales, Nevada tax deed sales, New Mexico delinquent property tax sales, Iowa tax lien sales, Nebraska tax certificate sales, Minnesota tax-forfeited land sales, Utah final tax sales, Washington tax foreclosure sales, Oregon tax foreclosure sales, Connecticut tax sales, Massachusetts tax title sales, Rhode Island tax sales, Vermont tax sales, New Hampshire tax lien sales, Maine tax lien sales, Delaware tax sales, Louisiana tax sales, Idaho tax deed sales, Montana tax lien assignments, Wyoming tax lien sales, South Dakota tax certificate sales, North Dakota tax deed sales, Alaska tax foreclosure sales and Hawaii tax sales, and the proven New York season, with the live membership, sits in the NY tax sale hub.