State treasurer outlines office activities: large cash holdings, pension gains, unclaimed-property push

Ashlyn Doyon, director of policy in the Vermont Office of the State Treasurer, told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on Jan. 16 that the office is managing a substantially larger cash portfolio, is seeing improved pension funding after recent reforms, and has expanded efforts to return unclaimed property to Vermonters.

Doyon said the treasurer’s office now manages roughly $2 billion on an average day in short-term cash holdings — up from about $300 million when she joined seven years ago — and that fiscal 2024 generated about $109 million in interest income from those holdings. "We have been working hard to invest that money that we're holding in short term cash in liquid safe vehicles, but also ones that are giving us a rate of return," she said.

The rise in short-term balances reflects higher interest rates and federal funds flowing into the state. The office reported roughly $8 billion in cash inflows and outflows over a year, an amount Doyon said is “about the size of your budget.” She also noted the office manages trust investment accounts such as tobacco settlement funds and prefunded other postemployment benefits (OPEB) trusts — about $300 million currently — which produced roughly $32 million in OPEB interest income in fiscal 2024.

On retirement plans, Doyon credited changes from Act 114 of 2022 and earlier task-force work with improving funding levels for the state and teachers’ retirement systems. She said the reforms are projected to save taxpayers about $5.8 billion over time and that the combined systems are on a path to be fully funded by about 2038. "We expect that those changes will save taxpayers $5,800,000,000 over time," she said; "both VCERS and [the teacher system] this year have the highest funding ratios that they've had in decades and are on track to be 100% funded by 2038." The retirement operations division serves roughly 50,000 active members and retirees with a staff of 18, Doyon said.

Doyon described several economic-empowerment programs the treasurer’s office now houses, including the Vermont Saves auto-IRA program for employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan, and a Baby Bonds Trust pilot the office plans to seed with philanthropic dollars after state authorization did not pass last year. She said Vermont Saves is accruing assets and that the average participant contribution rate is slightly above 4%.

The office’s unclaimed-property work was a major focus. Doyon said the division paid more than 19,000 claims totaling almost $6 million in fiscal 2024 and paid more than 17,000 claims in the first half of fiscal 2025. The office received over $18 million in unclaimed-property receipts this year and is holding more than $130 million in property belonging to Vermonters, businesses and nonprofits. She described recent proactive efforts that returned $150,000 to Vermont nonprofits and more than $1 million to Vermonters through a “money back” pilot that used tax-department data matches to send checks without a claims process.

Doyon also described state-authorized local-investment authority that permits the treasurer to place up to 10% of the state’s average daily cash balance in local investments and said the legislature authorized an additional 2.5% credit facility for climate infrastructure and resilience projects. She said the office used funds from that vehicle, in partnership with the bond bank, to provide short-term bridge loans to municipalities with flood damage awaiting FEMA reimbursements.

Committee members asked procedural and operational questions about unclaimed-property claims (verification, thresholds for fast claims and how lists can be delivered to members). A town clerk on the panel described a constituent with a claim complicated by family circumstances; Doyon offered to follow up and suggested the office could use public records tools such as ancestry databases to locate claimants when appropriate. Doyon said the office has requested two new unclaimed-property positions paid from the Unclaimed Property Special Fund to continue proactive return efforts; she noted those positions would not use general fund dollars.

Doyon said the treasurer’s office plans to submit an omnibus bill to the committee to clean up several statutes that she characterized as minor or noncontroversial, including removing an obsolete requirement that town treasurers notify the state on changes of office, fixing wording in the Vermont Saves and baby-bond statutes, and other language tweaks. She said all statutory language is drafted and that the office expects to move during the current drafting window.

The hearing included questions about whether OPEB funds are subject to the same outside oversight as pension funds; Doyon said pension trust funds fall under that oversight but OPEB funds do not currently. She also recounted growth in Vermont ABLE accounts (about 1,500 accounts and roughly $12 million in assets under management, with average balances near $10,000) and described past K–12 financial-literacy programming the office formerly supported and how the office is now prioritizing programs that reach families through Vermont Saves, baby bonds and partnerships with community providers.

Doyon closed by offering her contact information and materials, including the office’s annual report for calendar 2024, which she said committee members received in their packet. The committee requested a memo bulleting the draft statutory cleanup items and confirmed the Jan. 31 drafting deadline for any committee legislation.