County auction brings in revenue

FREEHOLD — The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders has announced that the annual Monmouth County surplus auction netted $284,663. This is the first year the county auction was conducted completely online, according to a press release. The auction was conducted in late September.

"It was a great success in that we were able to attract bidders from as many as 10 states as far away as West Virginia and Tennessee," Freeholder Robert D. Clifton said. "Selling these items online has allowed us to reduce overtime expense for the auction to zero."

The $284,000 figure is lower than the results from 2007, but that was because the county did not have as many high-end items for sale this year, according to the press release. Last year's auction netted $452,000.

Seized and surplus properties of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, motor pool, bridge department and park system were auctioned. A complete list of the items included in the 2008 auction was viewed online with pictures and descriptions, as well as terms of sale and other relevant information.

There were 416 bidders and 144 buyers.

As usual, vehicles made up a good share of the items that hit the auction block. More than 100 cars, trucks and vans were sold. Also on the auction list: office equipment, lawn mowers, grounds and turf equipment, chain saws, food concession equipment and other miscellaneous items.