CLEVELAND, Posted 4:08 p.m. January 19, 1999 -- The state of Ohio is holding $180 million that belongs to people like you, but how do you get your hands on it?
NewsChannel5 reports you can cash in without playing the lottery; just find your name on the state's Unclaimed Funds list. The money is from old bank accounts, safe deposit boxes or refund checks lost in the mail.
WEWS has discovered there are nearly two million accounts, but last year only a small percentage of people collected their cash. Some county treasurers blame bureaucracy and want to do something about it.
County Treasurer James Rokakis wants new laws that would give local treasurers more control over the money. He says this would make it easier for people to find out if they have money, and it would make it easier for them to collect.
"It's not the state's money," Rokakis says. "It does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people. But if you're making it as difficult to get it, you're in effect taking it away from them. It's not right."
But the state says getting local treasurers involved might actually create more red tape, WEWS reports.
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CLEVELAND, Posted 4:08 p.m. January 19, 1999 -- The state of Ohio is holding $180 million that belongs to people like you, but how do you get your hands on it?
NewsChannel5 reports you can cash in without playing the lottery; just find your name on the state's Unclaimed Funds list. The money is from old bank accounts, safe deposit boxes or refund checks lost in the mail.
WEWS has discovered there are nearly two million accounts, but last year only a small percentage of people collected their cash. Some county treasurers blame bureaucracy and want to do something about it.
County Treasurer James Rokakis wants new laws that would give local treasurers more control over the money. He says this would make it easier for people to find out if they have money, and it would make it easier for them to collect.
"It's not the state's money," Rokakis says. "It does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people. But if you're making it as difficult to get it, you're in effect taking it away from them. It's not right."
But the state says getting local treasurers involved might actually create more red tape, WEWS reports.
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