Melodie Phelps, News Editor
Monticello — Local residents will be able to help in a "treasure hunt" of sorts later
this week, as the Treasure Finders Program comes to Wayne County.
A host of volunteers will gather at the Wayne County Courthouse Friday
to participate in the program that helps match names of individuals to
unclaimed money or property they may have.
Treasure Finders is a proactive outreach began under the administration
of Kentucky State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach. Hollenbach met with County
Judge-Executive Greg Rankin and Mayor Kenneth Catron last week to explain
the details of the program. He said that his office collects an average of
$50 million each year in unclaimed money and property.
Their first obligation is to return that back to its owner, but in many
cases that becomes almost impossible. In fact, Hollenbach said the
treasurer's office turns over about $35 million in unclaimed funds to the
state's general fund. That meant only about 20 percent was being returned
to owners, and Hollenbach felt that percentage was too small.
So, he and his staff launched Treasurer Finders, which travels to
counties around the state. Volunteers like the County Judge-Executive and
the Mayor participate in Treasure Finders Day for that county. They enlist
many other volunteers who give time to review the list of local residents
who are on the unclaimed property list.
Hollenbach noted that the more people who are involved, the better the
chances are of matching a name with a person. The volunteers will try to
contact people who they know on the list in an effort to match them up with
unclaimed property.
Volunteers who participate in Treasure Finders Day will not have
specific information about any individual's unclaimed property. There will
be staff from the Treasurer's Office on hand to assist potential claimants
with the claims process.
Hollenbach said examples of unclaimed property could be an insurance
proceeds or an old bank account.
"We get all kinds of things that would surprise people," said
Hollenbach.
In Wayne County the list includes about 1,300 names and more than
$200,000 in unclaimed property, according to Hollenbach. In today's economy,
even a small amount of unexpected cash is good news to most people
Hollenbach noted that during a recent Treasure Finders Day in another
Kentucky county, one of the volunteers seemed to be very happy with the work
he was doing. When asked about it, he told other volunteers that he had
spent many years as a bill collector, calling people to get money. And he
was so happy to be able to call people and tell them that they could be
getting some money.
Anyone who can volunteer on Friday for Treasure Finders Day is urged to
contact the County Judge-Executive's Office. The event will be held in the
courtroom on the first floor of the Courthouse from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Volunteers don't have to stay throughout the whole event.
"If you have an hour or two, you can come by and help," said Rankin.
Anyone who would like more information can contact Rankin's office at
(606) 348-4241.
A complete list of unclaimed property, by counties, can be found at
www.kytreasury.com or by calling 1-800-565-4722.