Amendment 7 on the statewide ballot would protect unclaimed property money in a new trust fund. Public Affairs Research Council President Robert Travis Scott says each year if new collections entrusted to the Treasurer exceed what’s collected by rightful owners, the difference goes into the state’s general fund.
“This would set up a trust fund so any excess money that they can’t find the owners of would go into the trust fund, rather than the general fund,” said Scott.
Unclaimed property consists of, for example, deposits from utility companies that couldn’t locate the rightful owner after they moved, or unclaimed bank accounts, that are then turned over to the state in the form of cash.
Scott says in the past the Treasurer’s Office on average would locate approximately 25-thousand owners annually, but now Treasure John Schroder with new technology and more staff is locating 250-thousand owners a year. So, there is less excess to go to the general fund.
“There also are some cash flow problems in the program as a result, so he (Schroder) thought creating a trust fund would be ideal, he’ll invest the money in the trust fund and the earnings from that will go into the state’s general fund,” said Scott.
Proponents of the Amendment say it protects money that belongs to the people. Opponents say the program has existed for close to 50 years and has never had more claims than collections in a year.
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