State can ‘show you the money’ – yours – online

Your money may be sitting in Oregon’s capital city, waiting for you to claim it.

“It’s kind of a giant lost and found, with monetary assets,” said Department of State Lands Program Manager Patrick Tate.

That lost and found is better known as the Department of State Lands in Salem.

“You think, ‘Well, who is going to forget their money? I have a good idea of where my money is I think,'” Tate said.

So, what is unclaimed money?

“These are funds that for whatever reason didn’t connect up,” Tate said. “For instance, I bought a refrigerator and the rebate never came, or it went to the old address because we were moving to a new address. There is a one in four chance you will find yourself, or a loved one, if you go out and search on our site.”

Tate said $22 million in unclaimed funds sit in the Department of State Lands. So if it isn’t claimed, where does it go?

“The benefit for the state is that the funds that come in are invested for the Common School fund, and the interest made goes into K-12 schools,” Tate said.

Last year, Bend La-Pine Schools received more than $764,000 while the Redmond School District received more than $319,000, and the Sisters School District got over $49,000s.

While Tate said most individuals who find their name have on average only $50 or less waiting, it’s still no throwaway amount.

“Maybe use that money to go to a dinner they wouldn’t have gone to otherwise, or maybe pick up movie tickets or go to the theater,” he said. “And all of those transactions help build the economy. You’re going to help Oregon and keep the economy going.”

Tate said the department state lands receives 200,000 new accounts every year, so if you have checked before, it doesn’t hurt to check again.

“So even though you could have checked recently and thought, ‘There is nothing there for me,’ each year we get a bunch of new items, so you never know,” he said.

To find out if you have unclaimed property, Please visit OregonUp.us.