Nearly $1 Million in Unclaimed Property Tax Refunds Bound for County Treasury

By City News Service:

Nearly $1 million in property tax overpayments from Riverside County residents and businesses will likely be deposited into the general fund by vote of the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

According to Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent, the county has $974,724 in unclaimed receipts -- going back to tax year 1991 -- now destined for the treasury.

Between May 1 and Aug. 1, the county advised via newspapers and the county website how people could check to determine whether they were entitled to any of the money.

Last year, the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector started out with 2,214 individual overpayments totaling $2.35 million, Kent said. Thanks to stepped-up efforts by treasurer staff -- including phone calls to some recipients alerting them to the fact they had money waiting to be claimed -- the amount was dramatically reduced, lowering the number of prospective claimants to 1,529.

The overpayments resulted from changes in the tax roll that occurred between the time a bill was due and when it was paid, according to Kent.

According to a list published online, the amounts available to be claimed range from around $11 to just under $60,000.

Several companies and individuals were mentioned multiple times. Familiar names on the list included Chase Bank, Citi, DR Horton, Exxon Mobil, Fidelity National Title Co., the Outdoor Channel, the Riverside Community Health Foundation and Sport Chalet Inc.

Last year, board members expressed concerns about the number of government agencies -- among them the city of Riverside and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs -- with unclaimed money, prompting several supervisors to suggest that the county redouble its outreach efforts. No government entities were included on this year’s list.

Under state law, a county must hold unclaimed property tax overpayments in abeyance for at least four years before placing the funds in an active account for discretionary use.

In addition to the state mandate, the county holds money for an additional three months to give prospective claimants a little extra time, according to Kent.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s refund list is available on its website: https://www.countytreasurer.org/TaxCollector/UnclaimedMoney/UnclaimedMoney/Uncl aimedList.aspx .

(Image via Shutterstock)