If government is supposed to be a bureaucracy that operates on behalf of the citizens, one couldn’t hope to find a better example than a yearly tradition at the state treasury of Iowa known as the “Great Iowa Treasure Hunt.”
That makes it sound like there’s a big state tax refund buried in a field somewhere. Instead, the hunt is a program wherein employees at the treasury work to identify misplaced or lost assets and post them to a sort-of financial lost and found for Iowa citizens.
Where do the assets come from? The program works with businesses in the event that they lose contact with the owners of accounts if they’re registered in Iowa. The treasury then safeguards the assets for a period of time.
But rather than seek out the owner or their descendants, they got the idea to invite the whole of the state population to occasionally check the records and see if they have any unclaimed assets waiting for them.
One example of this came 2 years ago, when the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt reunited an Iowa woman with $4.5 million in McDonald’s common stock and paid dividends that had accumulated without her knowledge after she invested $15,000 decades earlier.
Last year, the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt returned $33.6 million in unclaimed property to individuals and businesses that had lost track of them, or hadn’t known of their existence. It’s the highest amount on record, and several million more than the previous year. That $33.5 million was paid out across 53,000 claims.
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According to the State Treasurer’s Office, there is currently more than $648 million worth of property waiting to be claimed, and since its inception, the treasure hunt has reunited property worth $408 million to its rightful owners.
According to the Des Moines Register, 1 in 7 Iowans have something waiting for them at the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt. Searching for it is quick, easy, and free.
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