BOSTON — Millions of dollars, owed to cities, towns and other public agencies, are sitting unused and unclaimed, according to records obtained by FOX25 Investigates from the Massachusetts Treasurer’s Office.
While some agencies are in the process of claiming their money, others say they were unaware of the unclaimed cash until being contacted by FOX25.
Large Amounts
Worcester, Framingham, Wakefield and Randolph were among the cities and towns with the largest single amounts of unclaimed money, according to data from the Treasurer's Office.
The records revealed more than 400 cities, towns, school districts and other public agencies have yet to claim more than $2 million that belongs to them.
“We've had, in the past, certain municipalities claim well into the six figures. Three, four-hundred thousand dollars-worth of property,” said Assistant Treasurer Mark Bracken.
Bracken says the money can come from forgotten savings or checking accounts as well as from stocks or mutual funds.
“Part of the issue is that a lot of times, people don't know they're due this money, so they're not looking for it,” said Bracken.
Enough for a Police Officer, Teacher
FOX25 Investigates found more than $66,000 in unclaimed money belonging to the Town of Framingham. The Treasurer’s Office indicated it was related to a vendor check from Wal-Mart, but there’s little additional information about why the funds were never received by the Town.
“It’s a mystery,” said Town Manager Robert Halpin. “We suspect that maybe there was a refund, the check got lost in the mail or whatever, but here we are.”
Framingham has now started the process of claiming the money. $66,000 is not considered an insignificant amount, for municipalities that were forced to make tough financial decisions in recent years.
“That's a starting salary for a fully trained, academy-certified police officer, that's a firefighter… that's a school teacher in the local public school system,” said Halpin.
Randolph’s Town Manager declined an interview request from FOX25 to discuss $29,000 in unclaimed property identified by the Treasurer’s Office, saying the Town was still investigating whether it has a right to the funds in question.
“I can’t force them to take the money, but we hold it perpetuity,” said Bracken. “It’s always going to be here.”
Not Hard to Find
The database that revealed cities and towns with unclaimed property is the same one containing about $2.4 billion also owed to individuals. The Massachusetts Treasurer’s Office estimates more than 1 in 10 people have some amount of unclaimed property.
“We generate 200,000 claim forms a year and we probably get 80,000 of them back, so there are people out there,” said Bracken.
Anyone can check to see if their name is on the Treasury's list by visiting www.findmassmoney.com
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