State treasurer asks panel to fund data matching to return millions in unclaimed property

State Treasurer Josh Hader told the Joint Appropriations Committee on the morning of the hearing that his office can proactively return roughly $19 million to South Dakotans by expanding a data‑matching program, but it needs committee approval for one‑time expenses totaling about $800,000.

The proposal would run across two fiscal years. For fiscal 2025 the treasurer asked for $147,000 in contractual services and $52,000 in supplies plus a plan to send about $4.8 million back to rightful owners; for fiscal 2026 the request includes $442,000 in contractual services and $157,000 in supplies and plans to return about $14.2 million. Hader said the Treasury’s estimate is a conservative, phased approach focused on South Dakota records and claims of $2,500 or less.

Hader said the treasurer’s office previously ran a test match that returned $2.8 million to more than 14,000 South Dakotans and that other states using data matching have mailed more than 1.8 million checks worth nearly $500 million. “These funds belong to them first, not any of us,” he told the…