Kentucky State Treasury

Treasure Finder’s Targets Magoffin with $160,000 in Unclaimed Cash

Treasurer Aims to Find the Owners at Housing/Business Fair for Storm Victims

Frankfort, KY (April 30, 2012) – Kentucky Treasurer Todd Hollenbach will be in Salyersville on Wednesday May 2nd from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Magoffin County Health Department participating in a housing and business fair for victims of the storms that devastated the county in March. The Treasurer will be armed with a computer and a data base of over 1500 unclaimed properties valued at nearly $160-thousand dollars with the aim of getting that money back to the rightful owners in Magoffin. Several of the claims are owned by local businesses.

“This is Treasury’s way of helping out the folks here in Magoffin and the rest of the storm ravaged counties”, Hollenbach said. “Our goal is to return every dollar possible and quickly so that this money will find its way into the local economies and help the communities rebuild. “

Treasure Finders is a statewide proactive outreach to notify potential claimants of cash being held by the Kentucky State Treasury. Each year the Kentucky State Treasury receives millions of dollars from holders (such as banks and insurance companies) who by statute must transfer assets of inactive accounts to the Treasury for holding. To accelerate the return of the money, Treasurer Hollenbach created the Treasure Finders program in 2009 and since that time has returned a record $61.6-million worth of claims.

Currently, Treasurer Hollenbach is piloting a new form of Treasure Finder’s using computer software donated by LeXis NeXis, an information technology services company. The software is being used to quickly search and verify claimants in the counties hardest hit by the March tornadoes.

So far 187 unclaimed properties have been verified in Magoffin County using the new program. Claim filing forms were mailed to businesses and residents on Monday, April 16th, along with a letter from the Treasurer notifying them of their claims.

Treasurer’s Office Seeks to Return $26-Million to Disaster Counties

Hollenbach Reorganizes Office to Put Storm Victims First for Unclaimed Property

Frankfort, KY (March 15, 2012) – Employees in the unclaimed property division of the Kentucky Treasurer’s Office are working to locate the rightful owners of more than $26-million dollars in unclaimed property in the counties hardest hit by the violent storms of March 2nd.

The Treasurer’s Office approached Lexis Nexis, an information technology services company, for assistance and the company generously agreed to donate enhanced software to speed up the process of locating and verifying the owners of over 99-thousand claims in the federally designated disaster counties.

“We are reorganizing our human resources and reprioritizing our efforts here in Treasury to find the folks in the storm counties, and issue them a check as quickly as possible so they can get the money in their hands to help them rebuild their lives.” said State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach.

The Treasurer’s Office has already taken steps to expedite the processing of current claims from those counties and will soon be sending out checks for 229 claims totaling more than $215,000.

“The folks in our office wanted to do something to help out immediately and we thought that if we could concentrate our efforts and move those claims to the front of the line, we should be able to quickly return money to the people in the disaster areas who are in real need,” Treasurer Hollenbach added.

Additionally, the Treasurer’s Office is sending letters to local leaders in the affected counties with an offer to bring on site the Treasure Finder’s Program that uses local volunteers to locate unclaimed property holders.

Employees in the Treasurer’s Office are also collecting donations that will be forward to the American Red Cross. Kentucky Government workers will also be reminded how they can help out storm victims when they receive their paychecks this week in the form of a public service message printed on their check stubs.

Press Release- Treasury Storm Victims

Treasurer Hollenbach Returns Medals to Veterans Families

Medals part of Treasure Finder’s Unclaimed Property

(Frankfort, KY) –In a ceremony today in the Capitol Rotunda, Kentucky Treasurer Todd Hollenbach was joined by Colonel (Retired) Michael A. Jones, Executive Director of the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and Commissioner Ken Lucas of the Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA) in a special medal presentation to the family members of two Kentucky Veterans who earned them in battle.

The return of the medals marks the formation of a partnership between the Kentucky State Treasury’s Treasure Finders program, and the DMA and KDVA. The agencies will use their expertise to help find family members of veterans with unclaimed property.

Treasurer Hollenbach said, “There are over 350 military items held in the Treasury vault, from discharge papers to a Bronze Star and we owe it to our military service members to go the extra mile to return them. Their stories deserve to be told, and their memories need to be preserved.”

Colonel Jones made the first presentation of a Purple Heart Medal to Dana Hackney of Cincinnati Ohio. Mr. Hackney is the son of Private First Class Herbert Hackney of Johnson County who served in World War II and was wounded in Germany, on March 30, 1945.

"We embrace every opportunity we can to assist and recognize our veterans on behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth," Colonel Jones said, "We're uniquely positioned to help the Kentucky State Treasury with this initiative due to our Military Records expertise, and are pleased to join this rewarding partnership."

Commissioner Lucas made the second presentation, which was also a Purple Heart medal to Thomas R. Edwards, of Campbellsville. Mr. Edwards is the son of Sergeant Thomas R. Edwards, Sr. of Green County who served in World War II and Korea and earned his Purple Heart medal from wounds he suffered in Korea November 12th, 1951.

“I am honored to present this Purple Heart medal to Sgt. Edwards’ son,"Lucas said. “Too often after a veteran has died, younger family members have nothing by which to remember the veteran and learn about his military experience. KDVA is eager to help ensure that medals, military records and other items left behind by veterans find the family members who will treasure them.”

Here is the story from WDRB Louisville

Treasure Finders Begins in Jefferson County

June 10, 2011, Louisville Kentucky - Treasurer Todd Hollenbach along with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Metro Councilmembers, Kevin Kramer, Tina Ward-Pugh, David James, Vicki Aubrey Welch and David Yates announced the launch of the Treasure Finders Program for Jefferson County. See the press conference here- Louisville Government TV

See Kentucky Treasurer Todd Hollenbach & Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer - Public Service Announcement- Louisville Government TV

Kick off event a success, $147,000 in claims initiated!

June 18, 2011, Louisville, Kentucky- Clifton Center - The kickoff event was held in Metro District # 9. Our Host was Councilmember Tina Ward-Pugh. View the Public Service Announcement click here .

Councilmember Tina Ward-Pugh and her team of dedicated volunteers made hundreds of phone calls. The calls were directly responsible for the initiation of claims totaling $147,000.00. That total is the sum of the claims from the people who came to the Clifton Center on Saturday. Treasurer Hollenbach was on hand to help visitors with the claiming process.

The Kentucky State Treasury has initiated many claims since the June 10 press announcement, and staff has reported a significant increase in the number of calls and email from Jefferson County. See the news coverage here.

Phone-Call-Leads-To-Cash-For-Many-Jefferson-County-Residents? - FOX 41 News, Louisville, KY

WLKY News Treasure Finders - June 18, 2011

Additional Jefferson county events are scheduled- Treasurer Finders Events- click here

Governor Launches E-Transparency Web Application

Treasurer Hollenbach will continue efforts to bring the business of government to the citizens of our Commonwealth.

Treasurer Hollenbach has been the driving force behind the Vendors Income and Expense Watch (V.I.E.W.), Governor Beshear called the V.I.E.W. initiative, “a pioneering effort by Treasurer Todd Hollenbach that allows citizens to search all of the state’s vendor and contractor data.

“People have a right to know how State Government spends their money,” said State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach. “Through e-transparency, the citizens of the commonwealth will have a tool to scrutinize the spending of their tax dollars.”

Treasurer Hollenbach also received praise from Secretary of State Trey Grayson, “I want to thank Governor Beshear, Treasurer Hollenbach, State Representative Jim DeCesare, and the team in my office who made our spending available online last year, for taking leadership roles in this important effort to shine a brighter light on how taxpayer dollars are used.”

The new Web site’s address is www.opendoor.ky.gov.

Click the following link to go to V.I.E.W.

Click the following link for the Governor's Press Release January 9, 2009.

Treasurer Hollenbach Leads Governor's Committee On Investment Reform- Recommendations Adopted

The recommendations advocated by Treasurer Todd Hollenbach's Pension Reform Work Group On Investments were adopted by The Kentucky Teachers Retirement System. See the quote below and click on the link for the full story.

“The Board of KTRS looks upon these recommendations very positively,” said Gary Harbin, executive secretary of KTRS. “The Board and staff have already implemented a number of these recommendations and will continue to work toward accomplishing other appropriate changes. We wish to thank KTRS Board member, Treasurer Todd Hollenbach, for his invaluable service in chairing the Governor’s Committee that made these recommendations.”

Click the following link for the full text Governor's Press Release December 16, 2008

2011 HOLDER BOOK- click here

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