HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity and officials from Upper Merion and Lower Merion townships in Montgomery County announced that more than $73,000 in unclaimed property has been returned to the townships.
“It’s an exciting day to be making such large returns to both townships,” Treasurer Garrity said. “I’m glad to safeguard the more than $4 billion in unclaimed property here at Treasury, but it’s not our money – and getting it back into the right hands is one of my top priorities. This money should be used to benefit the residents of Upper and Lower Merion townships, and now it’s back where it belongs.”
The $44,073.73 returned to Upper Merion Township included 26 individual properties ranging in value from $8 to $23,237. The oldest property dates back to 2002, while the most recent is from 2018. Properties returned include accounts payable checks, a credit balance, and a refund/rebate check.
“Unexpected revenue received by the Township is always a benefit to our taxpayers,” said Ernie B. McNeely, Lower Merion Township Manager. “A special thank you to JoAnn Drayton, the Township’s Accounting Supervisor of our Finance Department, for her diligence in submitting the claims that resulted in the Township receiving these funds, which will be deposited into the Township’s General Fund.”
The $28,930.51 returned to Lower Merion Township included 18 individual properties ranging in value from $20 to $12,370. The oldest property dates back to 2010, while the most recent is from 2018. Properties returned include accounts payable checks, uncashed checks, credit balances, and other forms of unclaimed property.
“The unclaimed property being returned by the state, regardless of the amount, does belong to the residents of the Township,” said Tina Garzillo, Board of Supervisors Chairperson. “I am grateful that Treasurer Garrity and our Township staff make the return of funds a priority.”
Treasurer Garrity also highlighted the fact that both townships make it a regular practice to check for unclaimed property. “We’ve now returned more than $127,000 to Lower Merion Township and nearly $100,000 to Upper Merion Township over the past several years,” she said. “I hope other municipalities will follow their lead to receive money that is rightfully theirs. We will continue reaching out to agencies across the state, but I also encourage local officials to contact Treasury for help recovering unclaimed property.”
How the funds are spent will be determined by township officials.
Treasurer Garrity has returned more than $14.5 million to 51 local government agencies, including counties and municipalities.
Treasury is working to return more than $4 billion in unclaimed property to its rightful owners. About one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed unclaimed property, and the average claim is worth nearly $1,600.
Unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, claims payments, accounts payable, uncashed checks, insurance policies, contents of forgotten safe deposit boxes and more. State law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to Treasury after three years of dormancy.
To learn more about unclaimed property or to search Treasury’s database, visit patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.
