[Editorial: I applaud Kansas for thinking outside the box]
New State Treasurer Ron Estes finally may have figured out a way to implement a longtime no-brainer solution for what probably is his office’s most public function – connecting unclaimed property with its rightful owners.
For years, the State Treasurer’s Office has spent untold resources to promote its unclaimed property program. It runs ads, maintains a website and takes its road show around, giving people who stumble upon it an opportunity to see if the contents of some abandoned and long-forgotten bank safety deposit box is a treasure just waiting to be claimed. It is a regular drill at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, for one.
One would have thought that instead of using all that energy trying to get people to come to the State Treasurer’s Office, surely there must be a way instead to go find the people.
Estes may have solved the riddle. He is promoting a bill pending in the Kansas Legislature that would allow his office to access tax information that would help locate owners of unclaimed property.
Estes says that 36 percent of the unclaimed property in the state’s possession has the owner’s Social Security number attached to it, and the bill would allow the State Treasurer’s Office to match that number to income tax filings and get a current address. Voila!
Why the state has never done this before is a mystery of the government bureaucracy.
One concern is privacy, and this bill has been structured to limit the treasurer’s office from access to other taxpayer information. But this concern, in this case, is overblown. Who do they think is going to whistle privacy foul if the state treasurer’s office sends them a letter – or, imagine this, gives them a phone call – to tell them they’ve got riches?
Chances are, if someone owes the government money, these barriers aren’t so impenetrable.
Surely there are other ways to track people down, too. If the government used a little more common sense, there wouldn’t be a need for so much public outreach to distribute unclaimed property.
Estes deserves credit for having some common sense. Pass the bill.
By John D. Montgomery/Hutchinson News Editorial Board
Posted by unprop 
Unclaimed Property Network - Free unclaimed money search 