Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Treasurer’s office asks committee to accept state abandoned-funds law to reclaim unclaimed checks
Summary
The treasurer’s office asked the committee to accept Mass. Gen. Laws ch.200A §9A to permit the city to identify and claim abandoned funds held in its custody; staff said the process requires public notices, research of outstanding checks and a multi-step waiting period before funds can be remitted to the city.
John, representing the treasurer's office, asked the committee to accept Mass. Gen. Laws chapter 200A section 9A so the city can post, publish and ultimately claim abandoned or unclaimed funds held by the city treasury after specified notice periods.
"Accepting this will provide the city with an outline method and procedure to properly dispose of abandoned unclaimed funds held by the city," John said, describing the steps: post a notice on the official website for at least 60 days, then publish a citywide notice for one year for amounts over $100, and if unclaimed publish county-level notice before remitting funds to the city. Councilors questioned how far back the office could search and whether payroll checks would be included; John said payroll checks are treated differently and the office will research outstanding check registers and provide an Excel file for council review.
CFO/finance staff emphasized that reconciling outstanding checks is labor intensive across many bank accounts and that the office prefers to return funds to rightful owners where possible. The committee voted to refer the order to the full City Council for adoption; staff agreed to prepare a report on outstanding checks and the expected timeline for the back-end research.
