State Treasurer Dale R. Folwell, CPA, went to North Carolina’s third-largest school district on Friday, May 3, to return newfound cash from the Unclaimed Property Division (UPD) of the Department of State Treasurer (DST).
“As keeper of the public purse, I always appreciate the opportunity to put money back in the hands of the rightful owners. As a member of the State Board of Education, I am especially pleased to return this money to Guilford County Schools,” Treasurer Folwell said. “School districts routinely find ways to stretch their dollars to empower classroom teachers and prepare students for college and careers. I am confident Guilford Schools will find the most appropriate use for this money where it will do the most good.”
"As stewards of our community's resources, we embrace the responsibility to ensure that every dollar is accounted for and used effectively. We are grateful to the Department of State Treasurer and its NCCash.com system for simplifying the process for Guilford County Schools and all North Carolinians to find and collect outstanding property," said Tyler Beck, school district chief financial officer.
UPD staff recently identified $4,100.33 that belongs to Guilford County Schools. Treasurer Folwell returned the money during a visit to the school district’s administrative office on Friday at which a host of district officials were present. The school district serves about 67,000 students at 126 schools.
Under state law, UPD is currently safeguarding nearly $1.3 billion in funds that are escheated, or turned over, to DST. The money is awaiting return to the rightful owners after being lost, misdirected or overlooked. It represents 22.1 million properties statewide, and more than 25 million owners are associated with those properties. For the current fiscal year, UPD has paid 94,085 claims totaling more than $71 million as of Feb. 29. For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023, UPD paid 193,319 claims totaling $108,586,512, both historical records for a one-year period.
Unclaimed property consists of bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned.
Unclaimed property can result from a person or entity forgetting they are due money, or from a move of location and forgetting to provide a new address. It also could result from a typing error in a house number or zip code in an address, a name change, or data loss from a business converting its computer system. As society becomes more mobile and steadily moves to electronic transactions, the risk of having unclaimed property has increased.