The South Bay’s tax collection agency is sitting on a veritable fortune in unclaimed cash.

Officials today published a list of more than 700 people and businesses who can potentially lay claim to a combined $216,478 that was left to languish for a few years in Santa Clara County’s Department of Tax and Collections coffers.

Rightful owners have until Feb. 8 to file claims and can start the process at sccdtac.org.

The county tax division collects public assistance payments, fines, fees, penalty assessments and restitution to victims of crime.

Unclaimed money comes from a variety of sources, including overpayments, duplicate payments, adjustment of charges and funds for victims who can’t be found.

County officials say the tax department made numerous attempts to track down the people entitled to the money, to no avail. Making the list public is a last-ditch attempt at reuniting the funds with their rightful owners.

“We make every effort to refund the rightful owners of the unclaimed money,” department director Margaret Olaiya said. “These funds may help the rightful owners, especially during this pandemic. We encourage individuals and businesses to file a claim if they believe that they may be due the funds based on their published names.”

For more information, call the department’s Fiscal Services Division at 408.326.1007 or send an email to [email protected].org.