CROWN POINT | Cities and towns interested in buying tax-delinquent land no longer will be able to bid in auctions, according to proposed changes to rules governing Lake County tax sale auctions.

The changes are scheduled to be considered next week.

Following a Times investigation into some of this year's sales, County Commissioner Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, announced Friday she is seeking to change how and when municipalities can acquire properties in tax auctions.

Municipalities already are afforded first dibs on properties up for tax sale, either for free or a negotiated price. DuPey wants to establish a cut-off date by when those municipalities can request property, before an auction takes place.

The deadline would come well in advance of an auction, and would force units of government to "do their homework," county attorney John Dull said.

Allowing municipalities to bid after squandering their free shot is "obviously frustrating for a potential buyer," Dull said.

DuPey's move is prompted by concerns from a potential investor highlighted in a recent Times series about 2008 tax sale purchases by the city of Gary.

Carla Cargle, a native of Gary's Midtown section, bid in August in an online tax sale auction for lots on Broadway. She was outbid by the city of Gary by a few dollars.

Commissioners received a complaint from Cargle on Aug. 12 about how SRI Inc. of Indianapolis handled the bidding.

Cargle told The Times she had planned to pay the taxes on the property once she owned is, and was mystified at why Gary would buy properties that would otherwise go into private ownership.

County attorney Dull said he is awaiting a full report from SRI, Inc., in order to review the transaction on Cargle's desired properties. DuPey told SRI not to issue any deeds for the properties until the county was assured they were properly sold, Dull said.

Under DuPey's recommendations, municipal units no longer will be able to bid either in person, at an auction or online.

In the event a government unit wants to bid after an auction, the bidding person must have written authorization from the municipality, and pay for the lot with a municipal check.

A Times review of county records found that Gary spent $72,662 for 268 pieces of land this year. Assessed at a combined value of more than $3 million, the properties were bought under the names of city workers.

The lot bids were secured in three separate purchases by city employees Vanesse Dabney, Velma Harris and Joel Rodriguez, but later were paid for with City of Gary checks.

Gary officials defended and explained the purchases as a first step in attempting to redevelop and revitalize the city.

"We have a strategy," city spokeswoman LaLosa Burns said. "We do that for the express use for housing and economic development."

The purchases attracted the attention of the FBI, which The Times learned is analyzing land buys made from the county sales.

DuPey said she did not think there was necessarily any wrongdoing involved in the Gary purchases.

But she is proposing changes, she said in a statement, because "the purchases by the city in the name of a third party and the payment for these properties by the city with its funds just did not look right."