Vermont has money to give away.
The state may be small in size, but it is large in their amount of money to give away.
Vermont has money to give away. How much? $37 million. The 37 million is available through the Unclaimed Property Division of the state Treasurer’s Office.
At a recent Burlington exposition, state Treasurer Jeb Spaulding helped Vermonters check a database to see if they were owed money. Other methods of getting the word out included radio commercials, newspaper inserts, the Champlain Valley Fair annually and the Yankee Sportsman Classic, in direct mailings and passed along in lists of names to legislators and town clerks. It was the hope of the Unclaimed Property Division to create a buzz and return money.
Where did the money come from? Vermont treasury holds financial property, such as insurance policies, paychecks, child support payments, some unredeemed gift cards and tax refunds owed to Vermonters by Vermont companies or the state.
Some good news is that the investment of the held funds currently earns the state about $1 million annually in interest which is $217,000 more than the cost to operate the four-employee Unclaimed Property Division.
State statute requires all Vermont businesses to report unclaimed or dormant funds each year to the Treasurer’s Office.
A law change in fiscal year 2003 clarified when and how to send the unclaimed money to Vermont’s treasury and the following year, the state saw an increase in property turned over, primarily from two national insurance companies. Those companies had been mutual companies, but converted to being publicly traded.
Vermont’s return of money to citizens is 5% more than the national average of 40%. The state has a quick and easy to fill out form. All claimants must show proof of identity and a notary’s signature for amounts over $200. The process usually takes just days to a couple of weeks
Most people now are finding their claims through the state’s Web site, www.vermonttreasurer.gov, or through a national Web site, www.cashunclaimed.com, which links state and federal unclaimed property databases together on one site. Money owed to Vermonters from businesses in other states does not appear on Vermont’s Web site but is likely to appear on the CashUnclaimed.com site. Anyone who has lived outside of Vermont or who know out-of-state heirs are encouraged to check the national site.
