Sacramento May Use Unclaimed Funds To Help Balance Budget

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – City officials are looking for ways to use millions of dollars in unclaimed funds to help ease a crushing budget deficit.

The Sacramento City Council will consider a plan Tuesday that would allow the city to use about $2 million in uncashed checks that have been piling up for more than a decade.

Some of the unclaimed fund amounts can be worth as much as several thousand dollars or as little as a few pennies, but Sacramento Accounting Manager Dennis Kauffman says every little bit helps while the city struggles to overcome a $39 million deficit.

The city says it has the legal right to take the funds, but only after they've tried to find the rightful owners. Anything less than $15 can be used by the city after one year, but officials have to wait three years for any greater amounts.

"Our hope is that by the end of the summer we will have a list of unclaimed property that residents and business owners will be able to search through," Kauffman said.

Unlike the state, the city doesn't have a website or hotline to track down the owners of unclaimed cash.

How can residents claim the money? City officials didn't have an answer for CBS13 on Monday.

They said they will notify the public once they have a list of the unclaimed property. If approved, the plan would allow the city to use the funds in a year.