You’ll probably get a kick out of this — right in the ass.
New York state is making a big to-do about reuniting people with their long-lost riches that sit unclaimed in state coffers. The drive to find the owners of these so-called “unclaimed funds” comes out of the state comptroller’s office around this time every year.
Here’s the ironic, kick-in-the butt, part: There are dozens — maybe even hundreds — of unclaimed accounts that belong to Big Apple and Albany agencies.
Banks publish a list of these unclaimed funds every year. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office says there are 30 million accounts being held by New York. Half of those contain less than $100.
But back in 2008, someone was reunited with an account containing $4 million that he’d misplaced. (Yeah, I know: How the hell does that happen?) And there is another account, worth $1.7 million, still waiting to be claimed. (People who misplace that kind of money shouldn’t have it.)
There’s no way to tell — at least not by me — how much total money is in the city and state agencies’ accounts. But, really, does it matter? Shouldn’t the state and city have safeguards that prevent them from “losing” accounts?
At worst, shouldn’t there be an intern or someone who can go through the banks’ list of unclaimed funds (like I did) looking for government accounts?
Here are some examples of the agencies’ lost accounts. JPMorgan Chase says it has accounts for the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Bronx offices of the city’s Department of Finance, and the state’s unemployment insurance office in Albany.
In all, I count about two dozen lost accounts belonging to various agencies, including the NYPD, the Child Support Processing Center in Albany and the Department of Transportation.
And that’s just the list from Chase.
Citibank’s list includes lost money belonging to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Thruway Authority, Department of Environmental Conservation and — get this — the Department of Buildings Boiler Division.
And my search was far from exhaustive. How many other banks, brokerages and companies have state and city money waiting to be claimed!?
Hey, I’m a believer in the saying, “It’s only money!” But this is taxpayers’ money.
If the state comptroller’s office really wants to reunite people with their lost dough, why doesn’t it start with its own accounts?