The Blogster could never really understand how so many state residents could let their bank accounts and investment profits lapse off into nothingness. Do that many people die without heirs or wills? But the Citizens’ Election Fund depends on about $18 million a year of this unclaimed property to keep the program of public financing for General Assembly, governor and other political races.
Anyway, outgoing state Comptroller Nancy Wyman today noted a “sharp increase” in refunds for the unclaimed property has resulted in a -conincidentally – $18 million deficit in the state budget. The so-called big list in the state treasurer’s unclaimed-property program has an Internet-based database that lets people search by name. “The number of people filing for unclaimed-property refunds has exploded and the payouts are far exceeding projections,” Wyman said. Typically, Connecticut refunds $25 million to $30 million a year, mostly in unclaimed investments that revert to the state.
Wyman warned that in the five months since the new fiscal year began July 1, more than $25 million has already been refunded. Overall there are state budget deficiencies totaling $233.4 million in departments and an overall deficit of $18 million in the current $19.2-billion budget.