Buyers spent big at Houston surplus auction

Houston County’s annual surplus auction last week netted good results.

Mark Baker, the county’s purchasing agent, said the auction raised $105,471 that will go into the general fund. He said it’s the highest amount the auction has generated in the five years he has been with the county and about three times the average.

The highest selling item was a boom mower that went for $15,000. A boom mower is a tractor with a mower on an extending arm that can cut hillsides and other areas where the tractor cannot go with a pull-behind mower. A backhoe that ran but had a defective digger sold for $9,700.

One thing that probably helped boost the total this year was that it was the first time the sheriff’s department’s Chevy Tahoes have gone into surplus since the department starting buying the vehicles for patrol. A couple of those sold for $11,000 each, Baker said, despite having over 150,000 miles.

People didn’t have to spend big to take something home. A pallet of law books from the district attorney’s office sold for $5.

Baker said 150 people signed up as bidders.

This story was originally published June 7, 2017 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Buyers spent big at Houston surplus auction."