Luzerne County vehicle fee overpayments refunded

Approximately 31,000 Luzerne County vehicle owners have received refunds for overpaying the $5 vehicle registration fee, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced Tuesday.

County council halted the fee the end of 2021 and later learned 31,000 vehicle owners had unknowingly paid an extra $5 for 2022 because they chose the two-year registration renewal option.

Garrity announced in March the state Treasury Department would automatically process the refunds.

The county sent $221,200 to the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property in February, which was the amount vehicle owners overpaid.

An Excel spreadsheet template was required to add the county’s vehicle fee overpayments to the state’s unclaimed property database. County Treasurer’s Office Manager Laura Beers was tasked with transposing data on the 31,000 vehicle owners from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation into the unclaimed property template.

County officials welcomed the state’s assistance processing the overpayments as unclaimed property so the county would not have to spend money attempting to return overpayments.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo on Tuesday thanked the state for its assistance in returning the fees to vehicle owners.

Most refunds were for $5, but some recipients were owed $10, $15 or up to $20 based on when they paid their vehicle registration, the state had said.

In Tuesday’s release, Garrity reiterated a plan was developed that did not require residents to take any action.

“This wasn’t a traditional form of unclaimed property, but it was the most efficient way to get this money back where it belongs,” Garrity said.

Council Chairman John Lombardo was quoted in the release thanking Garrity and her staff for assisting.

“Luzerne County was happy to work with our State Treasurer’s Office to get this refund out to citizens in the most economical way,” Lombardo said.

Any county resident with questions about the process can email the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property at tupmail@patreasury.gov or by calling 800-222-2046, the release said.

On the general topic of unclaimed property, Garrity noted her agency has more than $4.5 billion owed to more than one in ten Pennsylvanians, with an average claim of $1,600, the release said.

Unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and the 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.