Politics Enters into Promoting Unclaimed Property Law
Current Nebraska State Treasurer, Ron Ross, wants to promote the unclaimed property laws. The concern is that he will be using the State’s money and this promotion could also boost his election campaign.
While it may be true that his spending roughly $200,000 in state funds on television ads and a public-relations consultant could result in a big payoff for Nebraskans, his opponent in the race for state treasurer, Shane Osborn, says Ross may actually be seeking another sort of payoff: A boost to his election campaign.
Ross on Tuesday announced a statewide initiative to educate business and organizations about the state’s unclaimed property law. The law requires them to turn such unclaimed property as uncashed paychecks, dividends and even money from unused gift certificates over to the state. A division of the treasurer’s office then tries to return the property to rightful owners.
Ross says the state has collected and returned more unclaimed property under his watch. More than $17.8 million in unclaimed property was reported to the state last fiscal year, up from $13.8 million the year before. A decade ago, less than $5 million was reported.
The amount returned to Nebraska owners last year ($6.6 million) was about $1 million more than the year before.
Osborn said the timing of the promotional campaign is not a coincidence. Ross has until the end of the year to lend his name and face to the promotional campaign paid for with money from the unclaimed property fund.
Osborn further commented that the promotional campaign’s focus on collecting more property instead of returning what the state already has — roughly $50 million — puts the “cart before the horse.� “He’s focusing on the wrong thing,� Osborn said. “This is the people’s money, and the focus should be on bringing that money back.�
Osborn said the office could do a better job of tracking down owners of unclaimed property using technology familiar to Nebraska companies. Ross pointed out that he added a staff member to track down owners, and said the move has paid off.
Potential owners of unclaimed property may also do web searches. Cash Unclaimed Money Serch has simplified the search for you by pulling together information into one big searchable database where you search for and claim your unclaimed property.
