The Colorado Department of the Treasury has announced efforts to help municipalities recover lost funds, following the passage of HB 25-1224. The new legislation aims to simplify the process for cities and counties to claim unclaimed property held by the state.
“It’s not just people who have missing money—cities and counties do too,” said Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young. “We’re holding unclaimed funds for hundreds of local governments, and we want to get those dollars back to where they belong: in the community, powering local services.”
The department maintains a database with more than 15 million unclaimed property listings valued at about $2 billion. Municipalities across Colorado, including both large cities and small towns, have assets waiting to be claimed.
“The unclaimed property process has improved substantially, and the Treasurer’s Office staff was instrumental in helping us navigate the process of claiming funds identified as belonging to the City,” said Trevor Vaughn, Manager of Licensing for the City of Aurora. “Their support made it easy for us to secure these funds, and in doing so, we’ve been able to demonstrate to our residents that we steward public resources in a timely and responsible manner.”
In the previous fiscal year, over $3.3 million was returned through 6,750 claims made by municipalities throughout Colorado. Some notable amounts include $232,317 returned to Arapahoe County, $377,037 to Adams County, $161,247 to Boulder County, $1.67 million to Denver, and $224,042 to Pitkin County.
With HB25-1224 now in effect, local governments can expect a faster notification process when unclaimed funds are validated. Previously this proactive alert system applied only to state agencies; now it extends also to cities and counties.
Officials can search for unclaimed assets using an online tool at GreatCOPayback.com by entering their municipality’s name. If a match is found, they are instructed to contact the Unclaimed Property Division directly via email for assistance with claims.
Newly reported funds are added regularly. The department recommends that agency and municipal officials check the database annually for any potential claims that could benefit local projects or operations.
For additional information about recovering lost property or managing public funds in Colorado visit https://www.colorado.gov/treasury or https://greatcopayback.com/.
