Rome’s leading individual property owner, Larry Martin, was able to encourage lien holders to help ante up back taxes on more than 125 properties in the past week, completely avoiding a tax sale that had been advertised for Tuesday.

“Some of them paid at least the oldest year, some of them got paid all the way through the current year,” said Tax Commissioner Kevin Payne. “I think it was in the half million dollar range.”

The commissioner said that Martin no longer owes anything at all that is at least three years old, which is the threshold for Payne putting the property up for tax sale.

“At least until next week,” Payne said. “A lot of them may end up back on the list next year if he doesn’t pay something.”

When Payne started preparing for the tax sale more than a month ago, Martin had some 170 properties that were three years behind on taxes but cut that number to less than 160 when legal advertisements were purchased for the sale.

The number was further trimmed to about 120 late last week. Payne said then that he anticipated Martin, and/or his lien holders, would be able to make at least partial payments before the tax sale, which was slated for Tuesday.

Martin has indicated that collections of his plethora of tenants across the community have been lagging during the poor economy of the last several years and that vacant buildings have been frequently stripped of copper and virtually anything of value to thieves.

His annual tax bills have consistently been listed among the top ten bills in both Floyd County and the city of Rome for many years.

2012 Floyd County property taxes are due Nov. 15.