It’s an age-old dilemma. You’re walking into a store when you stumble across a $20 bill in the parking lot. Do you pick it up and keep it, or do you turn it in to the store manager hoping the owner will return looking for his money? 

Unfortunately, many individuals pick up the $20, walk into the store, and spend it without thinking twice. Fortunately for Louisiana citizens, however, the State Treasury does things differently.

It is the Treasury’s job to put the $20 in safekeeping and proactively search for its owner. Our Unclaimed Property Division does this in a variety of ways. We publicize our Web site every chance we get as a way for citizens to search for lost money. We also publish the names of citizens with new unclaimed property in statewide newspapers each year. Finally, we travel the state every month or so to host Unclaimed Property Awareness Days. We hold these events at shopping malls, conventions and community centers statewide.

Our unclaimed property employees have done such a good job getting the word out about lost money in Louisiana that they have returned $11.2 million in unclaimed property to Louisiana citizens this past year. This broke their previous year-end refund record by $2.4 million. 

In addition to processing 17,804 refunds this past year, the department collected $28.5 million in unclaimed property from companies and organizations doing business in the state. Over the program’s history, the state has collected more than $281 million and has returned more than $81 million in unclaimed property.

You may be wondering why we work so hard to return citizens’ money. The principle of the unclaimed property program is simple. Government requires us to pay our taxes on time and in the correct amount. Government should be held to the same standard when it has your money. 

Take a minute to search for your lost money at www.latreasury.com, where you can also file a claim for your unclaimed property online. If you don’t have Internet access, call us toll-free at 1-888-925-4127.