Wilkes-Barre receives $29K check for unclaimed property

WILKES-BARRE — Remember the $29,064 in unclaimed property belonging to the city?

It’s been on the mind of Controller Darren Snyder since he claimed it in June, sent in the paperwork and requested payment from the Pennsylvania Treasury Department.

The check arrived Thursday, a little late, but still welcomed by Snyder.

“Maybe this is a good thing for the new year,” Snyder said.

Lacking confidence in the $52.6 million balanced budget proposed by his predecessor Tony George, Mayor George Brown has been preparing his own spending plan and scheduled a public presentation on it for Jan. 27 at City Hall.

“My budget is going to be based on factual numbers,” Brown said.

With the city struggling financially every penny counts, Brown acknowledged. The check won’t factor into his budget, however. The city records its revenues and expenses on an accrual accounting basis. So the check, even though it was received this year, will be recorded as last year’s revenue.

“On a cash basis, it’ll help 2020,” Brown said.

The check will be deposited in the general fund for the day-to-day operations of the city, Snyder said. “The finance department has it now,” he said.

Snyder followed up on tip passed along from King’s College alumnus Thomas Kanarr of Palm Springs, California who searched the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s unclaimed property database and discovered Wilkes-Barre had money coming to it.

The check combined a total of 31 accounts, dating back to 1983 and ranging from as little as $1.36 from United Parcel Service to an $8,016.47 claims payment from Hospital Services (sic) Association of Northeastern PA, formerly Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.