Government Code §50050 and §50051 provide that money that is not the property of the County and remains unclaimed for three years may become the property of the County after notice has been properly published and if no claims for the money are filed and after a waiting period of not less than 45 days nor more than 60 days after the first publication of notice, the money will become the property of the County.
Government Code §50055 states that any individual items of less than fifteen dollars ($15) which remain unclaimed in the treasury or in the official custody of an officer of a local agency for the period of one year or upon an order of the court may be transferred to the general fund by the legislative body without the necessity of publication of a notice in a newspaper.
Government Code §50057 states that for individual items in the amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less, the legislative body of any county may, by resolution, authorize the county treasurer to perform on its behalf any act required or authorized to be performed by it under Sections 50050, 50053, and 50055. The resolution shall require that the county auditor be informed of each act performed under the authorization. The Board of Supervisors approved Resolution 2006-99 on July 18, 2006 authorizing the county treasurer to perform on its behalf for items in the amount of $1,000 or less.
Total unclaimed funds in the amount of $17,637.20 were up for review and processing by the treasurer comprised of $13,315.50, in individual items with a value of fifteen dollars or more (requiring publication), which includes a $26.59 debit of inmate funds and $4,321.70 in individual items with a value of less than fifteen dollars (no publication required) as detailed in the attached “Unclaimed Funds” spreadsheet.
The Treasurer met the publication requirement for the individual items with a value of fifteen dollars or more on May 29 and June 5, 2016. Six claims totaling $3,870.13 were filed and paid by the Treasurer during the claiming period. No additional claims have been filed and more than the required 60 days from the date of the first publication have passed for the remaining unclaimed funds.
In accordance with Government Code §50057 and County Resolution 2006-99, a journal was processed on September 21, 2016 to transfer $6,923.63 and on September 22, 2016 to transfer $4,249.99 in unclaimed funds with a value of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less directly to the general fund. The remaining $2,593.45 pertains to unclaimed funds in excess of the $1,000 threshold (see attached detail) which requires Board approval before transferring to the general fund.