County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister announced today that his office is making an attempt to reunite San Diegans with nearly $145,000 in unclaimed monies.  The funds represent a variety of fees and charges that have been paid to County Departments over the past eight years.  Individual refunds range from $15 to as much as $7,977.21 in one case.  A total of 891 refunds are available to eligible claimants. 

“If individuals or businesses have paid fees to the County at anytime during the last eight years, they should check the list we are releasing today to determine if they might be entitled to a refund.  Each year we publish this list and each year quite a few people are successfully reunited with their funds.  In these trying economic times, refunds, no matter how large or small can be helpful to San Diegans.  My goal is to return as much of the money as we can,” said McAllister. 

The County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office has received a total of $145,381.36 from various County Departments including: Animal Control, Assessor Recorder, Air Pollution Control, District Attorney, Auditor and Controller (Admin Services Division and Revenue & Recovery), Parks and Recreation, Public Safety Group, Planning and Land Use, the Registrar of Voters and the County Sheriff’s Department.  Current state law allows unclaimed refunds that are three years old to be “escheated” or turned over to the County’s General Fund.  It is the goal of the Treasurer-Tax Collector to inform all interested parties to search for their refund before the monies are turned over to the County through the escheatment process.   

Unclaimed monies consist of warrants or checks that remain uncashed for a period of more than six months, usually resulting when contact with the owner is lost, typically due to a name change, an unreported change of address or expired postal forwarding order. 

Claimants have until Tuesday, September 30, 2008 to file a claim form with the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office.  San Diegans can view the Unclaimed Monies List and they can download an official claim form by visiting the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s web site at:  www.sdtreastax.com or they can visit any of five Treasurer-Tax Collector offices throughout the County to view the refund list.  For additional information, citizens can call 877-829-4732 (toll free). 

County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister is responsible for tax collection, banking, investment, disbursement and accountability of public funds.