Refunds hit record from NY's unclaimed funds
ALBANY – The amount of unclaimed funds returned to recipients hit a new record in the last fiscal year, and in some counties the amount claimed has soared over the past five years.
New York is sitting on a pot of $14 billion in unclaimed funds from dormant bank accounts, business transactions and property sales.
The fund continues to grow: from $11 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal year to the $14 billion in the fiscal year that ended March 31.
The state Comptroller's Office, which administers the fund, said more than 650,000 transactions were made over the past year, totaling a record $427 million given out.
Since 2010, the money doled out has soared 44 percent, up from $296 million in 2010, a review of state records by Gannett's Albany Bureau showed. About half of the money returned was for less than $100 per transaction.
"We're putting more than $1 million in unclaimed funds back into the hands of New Yorkers every day," Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement.
The Comptroller Office's has heavily marketed the unclaimed money in recent years and improved the ease to check to see if you're owed anything through an online database.
The Comptroller's Office has a database to see whether you are owed money as little as $20 dating back to 1985. Gannett's Albany Bureau has its own database from the comptroller's records that shows whether you are owed as little as $3 since 1985.
Overall, there are more than 33 million account records still unclaimed. The largest: Over $1.7 million for one individual.
The amount of money received can fluctuate each year. In Monroe County, for instance, residents received $5 million last year, compared to $6.8 million the year prior.
But the money returned has skyrocketed in some areas of the state.
In Broome County, for example, people collected $7.8 million in the past fiscal year: That's more than four times the $1.7 million the state gave out in the 2010-11 fiscal year, among the largest increases in the state.
Chemung County residents received $1 million last year, up from just $254,000 from five years.
Other places had large increases in money claimed. Dutchess County residents received $3 million last year, up 67 percent from five years ago. There was a 56 percent increase in Tompkins County to $872,000.
Westchester County received among the highest in refunds in New York: nearly $23 million, an increase of 36 percent over five years.
To get the money, you can file a claim with the Comptroller's Office. There are accounts open prior to 1985 or less than $20.
"Last year, we returned a record amount of $427 million to rightful owners across the state," DiNapoli said. "And, we're making it even easier to claim lost and forgotten money. It belongs to you, New York, you should have it back."
If you don't, the state gets it.
In fact, the amount of money sent to the state's general fund — part of its $147 billion state budget — grew 23 percent in the past fiscal year, from $528 million two years ago to $648 million last year.
After three years, a portion of the unclaimed funds goes over to the state to pay the state's tab for education, health care and other government programs.
The amount sent to the state has gone up and down, in part because New York switched the dormancy period to collect the money from five years to three years in 2011 amid the state's fiscal woes.
For example, the total sent to the state hit a record $756 million in the 2011-12 fiscal year, state records show.
But the state says it ensures that the money would be available to pay out any claimants. It has a forecast each year on how much is expected to shift from the Comptroller's Office to the state budget.
"As a backstop in case claims exceed forecast, the budget includes the appropriation authority to transfer funds back into the account so that all claims may be paid," Morris Peters, a spokesman for the state Budget Division, said.
The Comptroller's Office has warned against hiring companies to look for unclaimed funds. While it's free to use the state system, private companies can charge up to a 15 percent finder's fee, DiNapoli said.
"Companies making claims do not have faster access to funds than individuals who contact the Comptroller's office directly," DiNapoli's office said.
How to use the money not claimed by people has been the source of controversy.
Some officials have wanted it to go to a specific program, such as property-tax relief, rather than it getting gobbled up in the state's massive budget.
Last year, the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo agreed to use a portion of the unclaimed funds to pay for public financing of the comptroller's election race.
But DiNapoli, a Democrat, protested the structure of the pilot program, even though he supports public financing of campaigns. DiNapoli didn't enter the program, and his Republican opponent, Robert Antonacci, didn't raise enough private money to qualify.
So the money was not used for any political campaign.
Joseph Spector is the Albany bureau chief.
How to get the money
To file a claim for one of the accounts,visit the Comptroller's website. You can also make a claim through the mail: The New York State Comptroller's Office of Unclaimed Funds, 110 State Street, Albany, NY 12236.
For accounts prior to 1985 or for amounts under $20, you can call the Comptroller's Office to see whether any money is due to you: (800) 221-9311.
Database
To check if you're owed money, visit our database below:
rochester.nydatabases.com/database/unclaimed-funds