To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Brian Cochran, Finance Director
Prepared By: Donna Lee Lawrence, Account Tech-Entry
TITLE:
Title
Escheatment of Unclaimed Funds
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Adopt a resolution approving the escheatment of unclaimed funds held by the City in accordance with government statutes.
Body
DISCUSSION:
The City issues checks on a regular basis in payment of various obligations (payroll, vendor payments, deposit refunds, etc.). Checks are forwarded to the address provided to the City by the payee. Occasionally, checks remain uncashed for an extended period of time or are returned to the City as undeliverable as the address provided is not valid. In those instances, City staff attempts to locate the payee by telephone, mail and/or internet searches. Even after those efforts, there are still instances where the checks remain uncashed. Typically a check becomes stale-dated (not honored by the bank) after a period of 180 days from the date of issue. If the payee is located, the original check can be voided and re-issued. In those instances where the City is unable to locate the payee, a process has been developed to provide one final opportunity for the payee (or legal representative) to come forward and claim the funds and to then transfer any remaining unclaimed funds to the City's General Fund. This process is called "escheatment" - which is defined as the process of turning over unclaimed or abandoned property to a governmental authority.
California Government Code Sections 50050 through 50056 provide that funds that are not the property of a local agency that remain unclaimed in its treasury for a period of three years becomes the property of the local agency after notice is provided. The required notice is the publication one time per week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice must identify the payee and the amount of money being held, and state that ...
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