Kirilenko is among Utahns on list of unclaimed Salt Lake County refunds

Andrei Kirilenko, come get your money — $75 to be exact.

The Utah Jazzman and 2,444 other Salt Lake County residents have yet to claim the $75 rebate offered residents in 2004.

At the time, the county's Sanitation Special District No. 1 had a huge surplus, and instead of keeping the cash in the sanitation fund, the Salt Lake County Council voted to mail residents in the sanitation district a $75 check. Residents of unincorporated Salt Lake County, as well as Herriman, Holladay and Taylorsville in 2004 were eligible for the refund.

However, not all the checks arrived at the right addresses, and nearly $200,000 remains unclaimed, Salt Lake County Auditor Jeff Hatch said.

If left unclaimed much longer, the county will have to turn the money over to the state's Unclaimed Property Division.

"We are reaching out to ensure that these taxpayers get every penny of their refund," Hatch said. "There is no reason for these refunds to go to the state of Utah with other unclaimed property, when we can take steps to get the money back to these folks."

The county auditor will hold the refund money for 30 days. To see if your name is on the list — and that includes you, Kirilenko — visit www.slcoaud.org or call 468-3381 by Aug. 1.

In order to claim a refund, property owners must verify the address of their property from 2004. If the property owner has since moved and wants the check mailed to a new address, the auditor will ask for identification that includes the property owner's name and new address.

If the money is still unclaimed after 30 days, the money will be transferred to the Utah State Treasurer's Unclaimed Property Division.

Every year, the state treasurer puts out a state unclaimed-property list — found at www.up.utah.gov.

Most often the unclaimed property is cash from old savings or checking accounts that have been inactive for at least five years, some kind of refund that went unclaimed for a year, or outstanding checks or other financial instruments. The list doesn't include real property, such as houses.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com