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Area cities have 'unclaimed property' coming their way
[Article from San Bernardino County Sun]
Despite the recession and a monstrous deficit, there's a lot of money lying around at the state level.
Literally, billions.
Referred to as "unclaimed property," over $5 billion worth is being held by the office of State Controller John Chiang, waiting to be claimed.
Cities make up a big portion of the entities that have unclaimed property, along with businesses, individuals and organizations.
A search of the controller's online database revealed several local cities have unclaimed money coming their way.
San Bernardino, with a population of about 200,000, has about $8,300 being held by the state. After surviving several tough budget cycles, acting City Manager Lori Sassoon says every bit counts.
Rebecca Smith, left, reads a story to students from Lincoln Elementary School at the Colton Public Library on Thursday. The library received $9,000 in unclaimed property funds from the state. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer)
"We're looking under every rock," she said.
The city's finance and accounting staff searches for unclaimed city money on a quarterly basis, Sassoon said. A few years ago the process to get the money from the state was very cumbersome, she said, but recently it's been simplified.
The result; the city has $19,000 in current and past claims it's awaiting payment for, she said.
Examples of unclaimed funds include money in a checking account that was closed by a bank because it hasn't been touched for more than three years, a refund from a utility company that never made it to a customer or payments a vendor or contractor owe a municipality, said Garin Casaleggio, a spokesman for the controller's office.
"Unclaimed property is a lost, abandoned or unclaimed account of some kind," Casaleggio said.
That lost money ends up at the controller's office, which holds it in perpetuity until it's claimed by its rightful owner or heir, Casaleggio said.
Fontana, with a population of about 185,000, has a substantial sum waiting for it, about $23,000.
With today's economy Lisa Strong, the city's director of management services, says she wishes the city had more money waiting for it.
"We monitor that Web site regularly and we have put in claims for that money," she said. "But it takes time, it's the state. Anytime there's money due to us, we go after it."
Most smaller cities, with populations of 50,000 or less, typically have operating budgets in the tens of millions of dollars. A few hundred dollars is a mere drop in the bucket when compared to an amount that large, but that's not stopping Big Bear Lake, with a population of less than 6,000, from going after about $350 it's owed by the Xerox Corporation.
The city submitted a claim for that amount about a month ago, said spokeswoman Cheri Haggerty.
"I would say in these economic times every penny counts," Haggerty said. "In addition, we do a disservice to the taxpayers of the city by not reclaiming the property that was already ours."
By far the largest local governments in the region are San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. San Bernardino County, with a population of about 2 million, had about 200 unclaimed property entries on the controller's Web site, likely totaling a dollar amount in the tens of thousands.
Los Angeles County, with a population of around 10 million, had over 18,000 entries, a total that's likely in the millions of dollars.
Mark Cousineau, San Bernardino County's chief deputy controller, said the county used to go after the money every three to five years. About six months ago officials decided to seek it annually.
The paperwork to obtain the money can be monotonous. He said he has a 2-inch pile of unclaimed property forms on his desk awaiting processing.
Perhaps the citizens of Grand Terrace are hoping for luck from that single red cent they are owed. Send an armored car.
Funds available to cities
Not all cities have thousands or more sitting at the state level, here's some that have small amounts awaiting them:
Grand Terrace: $0.01
La Verne: 690.06
Montclair: $789
Ontario: $694
Redlands: $598
Twentynine Palms: $102.18
Yucaipa: $210
[Article from San Bernardino County Sun]
Despite the recession and a monstrous deficit, there's a lot of money lying around at the state level.
Literally, billions.
Referred to as "unclaimed property," over $5 billion worth is being held by the office of State Controller John Chiang, waiting to be claimed.
Cities make up a big portion of the entities that have unclaimed property, along with businesses, individuals and organizations.
A search of the controller's online database revealed several local cities have unclaimed money coming their way.
San Bernardino, with a population of about 200,000, has about $8,300 being held by the state. After surviving several tough budget cycles, acting City Manager Lori Sassoon says every bit counts.
Rebecca Smith, left, reads a story to students from Lincoln Elementary School at the Colton Public Library on Thursday. The library received $9,000 in unclaimed property funds from the state. (Gabriel Luis Acosta/Staff Photographer)
"We're looking under every rock," she said.
The city's finance and accounting staff searches for unclaimed city money on a quarterly basis, Sassoon said. A few years ago the process to get the money from the state was very cumbersome, she said, but recently it's been simplified.
The result; the city has $19,000 in current and past claims it's awaiting payment for, she said.
Examples of unclaimed funds include money in a checking account that was closed by a bank because it hasn't been touched for more than three years, a refund from a utility company that never made it to a customer or payments a vendor or contractor owe a municipality, said Garin Casaleggio, a spokesman for the controller's office.
"Unclaimed property is a lost, abandoned or unclaimed account of some kind," Casaleggio said.
That lost money ends up at the controller's office, which holds it in perpetuity until it's claimed by its rightful owner or heir, Casaleggio said.
Fontana, with a population of about 185,000, has a substantial sum waiting for it, about $23,000.
With today's economy Lisa Strong, the city's director of management services, says she wishes the city had more money waiting for it.
"We monitor that Web site regularly and we have put in claims for that money," she said. "But it takes time, it's the state. Anytime there's money due to us, we go after it."
Most smaller cities, with populations of 50,000 or less, typically have operating budgets in the tens of millions of dollars. A few hundred dollars is a mere drop in the bucket when compared to an amount that large, but that's not stopping Big Bear Lake, with a population of less than 6,000, from going after about $350 it's owed by the Xerox Corporation.
The city submitted a claim for that amount about a month ago, said spokeswoman Cheri Haggerty.
"I would say in these economic times every penny counts," Haggerty said. "In addition, we do a disservice to the taxpayers of the city by not reclaiming the property that was already ours."
By far the largest local governments in the region are San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. San Bernardino County, with a population of about 2 million, had about 200 unclaimed property entries on the controller's Web site, likely totaling a dollar amount in the tens of thousands.
Los Angeles County, with a population of around 10 million, had over 18,000 entries, a total that's likely in the millions of dollars.
Mark Cousineau, San Bernardino County's chief deputy controller, said the county used to go after the money every three to five years. About six months ago officials decided to seek it annually.
The paperwork to obtain the money can be monotonous. He said he has a 2-inch pile of unclaimed property forms on his desk awaiting processing.
Perhaps the citizens of Grand Terrace are hoping for luck from that single red cent they are owed. Send an armored car.
Funds available to cities
Not all cities have thousands or more sitting at the state level, here's some that have small amounts awaiting them:
Grand Terrace: $0.01
La Verne: 690.06
Montclair: $789
Ontario: $694
Redlands: $598
Twentynine Palms: $102.18
Yucaipa: $210
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