If you received a letter from the state offering $50,000 just for asking, would you ignore it? That's exactly what some local public entities have done.
The Ohio Department of Commerce has sent two notices to the University of Cincinnati since last December indicating UC has more than $50,000 in unclaimed funds in roughly 80 accounts.
The Division of Unclaimed Funds tells the I-Team it has received no reply from the university, despite the deep recession.
ODC spokesman Dennis Ginty says individuals usually reply right away when they learn the state is holding checks with their names on them.
"As soon as they know they have unclaimed funds waiting to be claimed, many of them step forward right away, claim those funds and are happy for the outreach that we provided to them,” said Ginty.
But public entities like municipalities and universities often ignore the notices.
Out of $1.9 million in notices sent to Ohio public agencies last year, only about $900,000 was claimed. That means a million dollars were left on the table in the middle of a crippling recession.
The University of Cincinnati acknowledges there are unclaimed funds accounts totaling $56,628 in the university's name, but officials insist only a small portion actually belongs to UC.
"We think something in the neighborhood of 10% to 15% are actually going to be claimed by the university," says UC spokesman Greg Hand. "But that's 10% to 15% of something we didn't have yesterday."
UC has a an annual budget of more than one billion dollars. It's a combination of tax dollars, student tuition payments and gifts from alumni and other donors.
The university agrees all of that money is hard-earned.
In-state tuition is close to $10,000 a year. Those unclaimed funds could go toward paying one student's entire tuition for a year at least, or maybe even for all four years if the all of the $50,000 belongs to the university.
"That's a lot of money to me, " says UC junior Mandy Schaefer.
"I make what, like $6,000 a year, not even. And that's working overtime in the summer. That's a lot of money for a student,” said Schaefer. “And for it to be sitting up there, and no one saying anything about it, I think it's a shame. I think it's a crime."
It would be one thing if the university was unaware of its unclaimed funds. But ODC sends out regular notices. UC says it doesn't know where those notices were sent.
According to Hand, "When I alerted the treasurer about the situation, he called up to the state and their question to him was 'Why haven't you responded to us?' And his question to them was 'What am I responding to?' He hadn't received anything."
The second notice was sent after our inquiry to the Division of Unclaimed Funds in early September.
The I-Team discovered the U.C. accounts by searching missingmoney.com, a website run by a consortium of several states.
You can search your name on the website to see if the state is holding any money on your behalf. There's a five-percent administrative fee deducted from any successfully claimed funds, but it's free to search for them.
We also found nearly $7,000 in the name of Hamilton County. Local officials have been locked in a pitched battle to trim $70 million from the county budget over two years.
Employees have been laid off and others have been forced to take furloughs, while commissioners consider cutting critical services like the crime lab.
"In these tough budgets, I don't view any amount too small, "says County Commissioner Greg Hartmann. "We are analyzing and critiquing every nickel spent."
The commissioner was shocked to learn there were thousands of dollars the county could claim, and that his officials had ignored notices sent by the state.
Hartmann said, "Thanks for raising the issue. I mean this is low-hanging fruit. There's dollars sitting there that are our dollars."
The good news is the money isn't going anywhere.
Ginty says the agency is holding more than one billion dollars and, "They will stay with the State of Ohio until the rightful owner or rightful heir comes forward to claim those funds."
But UC says it will not waste another moment thanks to our I-Team investigation.
"We're going to be claiming all the funds that are listed for the university," says Hand, "and make sure they get to the right place."
