Ad tries to reunite people, cash
State to publish list of unclaimed property Sunday in H&R

By Tony Reid

Herald & Review, Decatur, IL

Published Saturday, August 16, 2008

SULLIVAN - There's no better prescription for feeling good than getting back what you're owed. The Sullivan Pharmacy on The Square in Sullivan recently got $130 richer, thanks to a stock dividend check that was owed for the retirement plan of the family-run business. Financial institutions turn in unclaimed amounts like the pharmacy's check to the state treasurer's office, and the deposits form a vast pool of homeless cash.

When Tony Jones, who runs the pharmacy with wife, Joan, eventually went looking for his money, he discovered it was safe and sound and came with a nice little bonus.

"We found out there was another $40 due to us also," said Jones, 44. "To claim the money, I just filled out a form I printed from the treasurer's Web site; the system worked pretty good."

Glance in the Herald & Review classified section Sunday and you might find yourself in the money, too. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is taking a proactive approach to reuniting people with their cash by running ads in local papers listing individuals and businesses owed at least $100 cash or due any value of stock or the contents from safe deposit boxes.

The Herald & Review list will feature more than 300 Macon County names, and these are just the ones that have been added since February. The full 42-county, statewide list runs to more than 10 million names of people who are owed a staggering $1.4 billion. Readers can search the "Cash Dash" database, as the treasurer calls it, by going to www. treasurer.il.gov and clicking on Cash Dash.

"You could have money coming to you and not even realize it," said Giannoulias, who recently surprised an Illinois family with a $600,000 lost cash check, making the presentation on national TV.

Kati Phillips, a spokeswoman for the treasurer's office, says it may sound "counterintuitive for people to lose track of their money," but it happens all the time. "People move and can't be found, or your relative passes on, and there is something that person has forgotten to tell their family about," she added.

If you don't claim what's yours, the treasurer will get to use the money for worthy causes such as helping prop up the teachers and state employees pension systems, which are some $40 billion in the hole. But, whenever they get around to it, claimants always get paid.

"The money is always yours, and it will be your kids' money, and it will be your grandkids' money," Phillips explained. "There is no statute of limitations."

Tony Reid can be reached at treid@herald-review.com or 421-7977.