Pursuant to Government Code Section 50050-50053, after three years, any unclaimed checks of Fifteen Dollars or more may be retained by the City and transferred to the general fund or the respective funds from which they were issued upon approval by City Council after the following notice procedures.

The City must publish once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the City, the amount of money, the fund in which it is held, and that the money will become the property of the City on a designated date not less than 45 days nor more than 60 days after the first publication of the notice.

During this period, individuals have the right to contact the City to claim the funds owed to them. Once the notice period has expired, any funds that are not claimed become the property of the City and the City Council may approve their transfer to the general fund or the respective funds from which they were issued.

The City published the required Notice of Publication in compliance with the Government Code on May 9, 2018 and May 16, 2018 in the Orange County News. As of the date of this report, no claims on the outstanding checks were received as a result of the publication. Attached is the list of checks over fifteen dollars that remained unclaimed after three years from the date of issuance which continue to be unclaimed forty-five days after the first date the Notice of Publication was issued. The total amount of this listing is $143,514.02 (see attached).  

City Staff requests that City Council authorize the City Treasurer working in conjunction with the Finance Director to void any checks which remain unclaimed after forty-five (45) days of the Notice of Publication which effectively transfers the unclaimed monies to the respective funds from which they were issued.

The transfer of these unclaimed monies will result in $143,514.02 of available funds for the City’s use.

It is recommended that the City Council:

• Authorize the Finance Director to void the unclaimed checks of fifteen dollars or greater that remain uncashed after three years from the date of issuance which remained unclaimed forty-five days after the Notice of Publication was issued, and transfer the funds to the general fund or to the respective funds from which they were issued.

Ellis Chang, Accounting Manager