Committee recommends accepting state law allowing city to reclaim unclaimed funds

The Committee on Finance voted to refer to the full City Council an order from Mayor Mitchell to accept Massachusetts General Laws chapter 200A, section 9A, which provides a municipal procedure for disposing of abandoned and unclaimed funds.

John (Treasury) explained that acceptance of ch. 200A, ' 9A would allow the city to post a notice of apparent owners of funds held by the city, instruct claimants how to pursue those funds, and after required notice periods and advertising, treat unclaimed amounts as revenue to the city's general fund. The first step would be a 60-day posting on the city website. For amounts over $100 that remain unclaimed after the posting, the statute requires a general-publication notice in the city and then a county-level publication; the department noted the city would post a single ad listing all items.

Councilors asked clarifying questions about how checks become outstanding (accounts-payable checks not cashed) and how far back the office would search. John said acceptance of the law would allow the city to research outstanding items and follow the statutory procedure; staff estimated the back-end research to identify outstanding items could take a couple of months. Treasury staff and councilors discussed payroll checks separately; payroll would not be included under this procedure without additional legal review.

The motion to receive and place on file and to refer the order to the full City Council for adoption was made by Councilor Pereira, seconded by Councilor Giesta, and the committee approved the referral. Treasury staff said the city currently has an outstanding-checks register (across many accounts) that can be produced and that the office plans to use improved cash-management tools to streamline reconciliation.