Luzerne County Residents Refunded Registration Fees

Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced today that the Pennsylvania Treasury Department has sent refunds to approximately 31,000 Luzerne County residents who were owed money after the county eliminated its $5 annual vehicle registration fee.

Luzerne County residents owed the refund paid for two-year vehicle registration renewals prior to the elimination of the $5 fee.

“Working with Luzerne County, we were able to make these refunds without requiring the affected residents to take any action at all,” Treasurer Garrity said. “This wasn’t a traditional form of unclaimed property, but it was the most efficient way to get this money back where it belongs.”

“Luzerne County was happy to work with our State Treasurer’s office to get this refund out to citizens in the most economical way,” said John Lombardo, Luzerne County Council Chair. “Thank you very much to Stacy Garrity and her staff for assisting our administration in this effort.”

Most residents received a $5 refund, although some – based on when they paid their vehicle registration – received more, up to $20.

In February, Luzerne County sent $221,200 of excess registration fees to the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property. County officials worked quickly with Treasury to submit a claim on behalf of all 31,253 residents who were owed a refund.

Any resident of Luzerne County who has questions about this process can email the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property at tupmail@patreasury.gov or call 800-222-2046.

Treasury has more than $4.5 billion in unclaimed property owed to more than one in ten Pennsylvanians, with the average value of a claim being $1,600.

Unclaimed property can include things such as dormant bank accounts, insurance policies, and old valuables like contents of safe deposit boxes. State law requires businesses to report unclaimed property to Treasury after three years of dormancy.

Anyone can search for unclaimed property, and see if they are owed anything, at patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property.