WESLACO - NEWSCHANNEL 5 has located more than $174,000 sitting in state coffers, waiting to be claimed by Valley governments. The money is only a phone call or an email way, but even in these tough economic times, local leaders appear to be ignoring it.
We found the money, hiding in plain sight, on the Texas Comptroller's Unclaimed Property website. There are refunds, overpayments, rebates and medical fees.
When we searched for Hidalgo County, a long list appeared. County Treasurer Norma Garcia was unaware the money was there. We explained, "the state website, right now, has more than $60,000 in unclaimed property for Hidalgo County."
Garcia questioned the figure we found. She told us the money belonged to individuals and businesses that do business with the county. "It doesn't mean that I have $60,000 that is owed to the county? Is that what you're saying," she asked NEWSCHANNEL 5.
We explained that the money appears to belong to the county. Garcia called in her assistant as well as the county auditor and the tax assessor. We showed the treasurer the state unclaimed property website and the process we used to search for Hidalgo County.
While Garcia perused the site, NEWSCHANNEL 5 called the Texas Comptroller's Office and asked to speak with the head of unclaimed property. We put George Tamayo on speakerphone, and he reassured the roomful of county administrators the money is likely theirs.
"If you found that on the unclaimed property web site, that money was reported to us for those cities and counties," Tamayo said.
Tamayo tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 the state tries to notify everyone who has unclaimed property, including government agencies. "If it doesn't get to the right people, they don't know what it is, and sometimes they take no action on it," he explained.
Hidalgo County isn't alone. Almost every city and county in the valley has some amount of money unclaimed. Taxpayer Daniel Hernandez finds it frustrating.
"This happens everywhere. Money just sits there and is collecting interest for somebody," Hernandez observed after reviewing what we found online.
The City of Harlingen appears to have nearly $42,000 waiting for it. That's the most money of any city in the Valley. Harlingen Fire Chief Michael Rinaldi didn't want to discuss the unclaimed money, but he agreed to talk to NEWSCHANNEL 5 about how he could spend $40,000.
He says although his department is well funded, "you could always come up with something [to buy]."
"We replace about a third of the department's gear every year, which is the boots, helmet and coats and pants," Chief Rinaldi said. The replacement bunker gear costs about $40,000 per year. $40,000 would also cover the cost of replacement fire hose for the next five years.
Harlingen City Manager Craig Lonon said the city knew about the money but wasn't claiming it. "I'm not sure that's our money. I believe our folks have tried to check into that, and I'm not sure that it's our money," Lonon reiterated.
He sent us across the hall to the finance director. He also told us the city had checked into the matter, and most of the money wasn't the city's. The finance director sent us to the Harlingen tax office. The office director searched her system and couldn't find any matching account numbers for the unclaimed funds. She concluded the money belongs to the city. For now, it sits in Austin.
Hidalgo County Treasurer Norma Garcia is moving forward to claim the county's cash. She asked, and the comptroller's office agreed to generate a claim form for all of the county's unclaimed property.
Garcia tells NEWSCHANNEL 5 Hidalgo County will likely receive nearly $100,000. Garcia says the process is simple, and she encourages other cities, counties and schools to check to see what's waiting for them, up for grabs on the comptroller's site.
Valley Unclaimed Money- Alamo $100.00
- Brownsville $1,287.86
- Donna $549.57
- Edcouch $157.91
- Edinburg $2,408.91
- Harlingen $41,883.74
- Harlingen $41,883.74
- City of Hidalgo $1,690.41
- McAllen $1,584.80
- Mercedes $2,842.81
- Mission $215.64
- Palmview $61.75
- Pharr $459.70
- Rio Grande City $5.11
- Roma $3,105.06
- San Benito $65.31
- San Juan $553.01
- Sullivan City $88.74
- Weslaco $143.45
Cameron Co. $12,235.43
Hidalgo Co. $98,424.08
Starr Co. $1,895.06
Willacy Co. $4,581.33
Grand Total: $174,339
*Figures based on web searches on the Texas Comptroller's Unclaimed Property Web Site, 4-22-09
