There’s money to be claimed

COLUMBUS

In January, state officials contacted the Marlington Local School District about some unclaimed funds being held by the Ohio Department of Commerce.

Within four days of the notice, school officials sent back the necessary paperwork, and, a few days after that, the Alliance-area district was nearly $51,000 richer.

OK, richer probably isn’t the right word to use with any Ohio school district, but you get the point.

In a day when schools are shouting about needing more resources to meet an every-growing list of mandates, a little forgotten money surely would be a welcome sight.

The Ohio Department of Commerce’s unclaimed funds section has been busy trying to reunite school districts with their money.

In January, officials sent out notices to 111 school districts statewide informing them of unclaimed funds in the state’s possession.

The districts have to submit a claim form, provided by the state, and then they receive a check.

Of the 111 that were notified, only 26 have responded and have already received $179,988, according to statistics compiled by the state.

Nearly 30 other school districts have tracked down money on their own and initiated claims without being prompted.

They’ve snagged $22,750 in the process.

But that still leaves 85 districts that have been contacted but that have not followed through with the claims process.

The state has $24,000-plus belonging to the Allen County Schools Health Plan.

More than 20 other districts have $1,000-plus in unclaimed funds, including Cuyahoga Falls ($3,351.91), Twinsburg (two schools, $2,500-plus) and Boardman ($1,146).

The state even has $10 for Fairview German and Turpin High, both in Cincinnati.

Granted, it’s not a lot of money, but it is there for the taking. And the state has made it as easy as it can for districts to take back their mislaid funds.

So what’s the holdup? Even $10 would buy a lot of pencils.

Along Those Lines

The Ohio Department of Commerce had a press conference last week to warn residents about a company that was charging people to conduct online searches, then using potentially fraudulent forms to make claims.

This particular company hasn’t registered with the state, though 30-plus others have and are charging people to search for their unclaimed funds.

There’s nothing illegal about paying one of these registered companies to help you track down your money, but you can do your own search from two websites (www.unclaimedfundstreasurehunt.ohio.gov or www.missingmoney.com) at no cost.

Speaking of the unregistered company that was the focus of last week’s press conference, Ohio Department of Commerce Director David Goodman said, “Look, it’s shameful for a company to lure ... unsuspecting Ohioans in and take their money from them, and as the director of the Ohio Department of Commerce ... we simply won’t stand for it here Ohio. This is a scam against hard-working Ohioans, and no Ohioans should ever pay for a search for unclaimed funds or to receive an unclaimed fund form.”

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com.