In a great article by the Idaho County Free Press.

“Last year, it was $5.47 million. This year, that amount is more than $8 million that people need to claim,” said Idaho State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth, for the Gem State overall.

“It sounds too good to be true,” she continued, “but it is true.”

Ellsworth promoted public awareness on unclaimed property that state residents need to pursue, during a recent visit to regional newspapers late last month.

Unclaimed property is unclaimed or abandoned intangible property, specifically money. Unclaimed money can be checking accounts, savings accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, utility refunds, or items stored in safety deposit boxes. The state acquires property, which in this case does not mean land, from holders such as corporations, business associations, utility companies, medical offices, and insurance companies after there has been no customer contact for a period of time.

Those wanting to check on whether they have unclaimed property can go online at https://yourmoney.idaho.gov/ to check claim status and find out more information.

According to Ellsworth, as of Oct. 18, for Idaho County there were more than 9,700 individual listings for an approximate $840,000 total. Her office broke out numbers for seven area towns that have 6,382 claimable properties for a total $372,142.02. The breakdown is as follows (including claimable property numbers and total dollars):

• Cottonwood: 943; $37,757

• Grangeville: 2,831; $182,997.08

• Kooskia: 1,476; $93,586.74

• Riggins: 518; $32,455.51

• Stites: 250; $5,937.05

• Warren: 37; $550.61

• White Bird: 327; $18,858.03

“That’s $372,000, that is a lot of money,” said Ellsworth, for county residents to claim.

She added, “If it’s not worth your time to claim it, you can donate to items the Idaho Legislature has set forward.”