Lauderdale County officials say this year’s new online format vastly improved the county’s land sale, with more than $3 million in property sold.

According to Lauderdale County Tax Collector Doris Spidle, who gave a presentation to the board of supervisors on Monday, a total of $3,189,698.63 in property with unpaid taxes was sold in the auction, which was held the week of Aug. 28.

There were more than 3,000 properties put up for auction with delinquent taxes from the 2016 tax year, Spidle said.

Spidle said only 47 pieces of land — a total of about $13,000 — were sent to the state. Last year, 526 pieces of land went to the state — a total of about $70,000.

Spidle said the online format was definitely a factor.

“That in itself is great,” she said. “Once those properties go to the state of Mississippi, we don’t get them back on the tax rolls unless somebody redeems them.

“We’ve always had at least 500 or more go to the state every year,” she said. “And I had zero overtime, which is another plus. It was much less labor-intensive than it normally is.”

Once the land is sold, buyers must hold the land for three years, giving owners an opportunity to pay the back taxes to redeem the land.

Spidle said there were a number of local bidders in the auction, but there were also several from out of town, including some from New York, Florida and “other parts of the country.”

Leah Rupp Smith of the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office said about 70 percent of those with winning bids were from Meridian, while about 10 percent were from out of town. The remaining winning bidders are from other parts of Mississippi, she said.

Lauderdale County is among 20 or so Mississippi counties conducting delinquent tax land sales online.

Bidders can log on to a website and bid on various properties.