More than $3.5 million in unclaimed local property tax revenue awaits its rightful owners. Santa Clara County released a list of 4,900 taxpayers who potentially have a right to some of the cash, which is on deposit with the Department of Tax and Collections.
Those named on the list have until the end of February to file an application for their share of the revenue. Click here to see if your name pops up.
“We make every effort to refund the rightful owners of the unclaimed property tax money,” said Margaret Olaiya, head of the county’s tax and collections division. “We encourage taxpayers to file a claim if they believe that they may be due a refund based on their published names.”
The county’s central collection agency issues upward of 500,000 property tax bills and rakes in $6 billion in revenue each year. Unclaimed tax money comes from various sources, including reduced property assessments, overpayments and duplicate payments.
Names only end up on the list if the county is unable to contact the person through phone and skip tracing and if there are multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach them, such as returned mail, uncashed checks, refusal of funds and lack of response to notifications. Oftentimes, according to the county, banks and companies are unable to apply the funds because of ownership changes as properties get bought up or sold.
The list remains public through Tuesday. Applications must be filed by Feb. 28.