Unclaimed Property Team Headed to Jackson County This Week
If you will be in the Pascagoula area this Thursday, you may want to stop by to visit our unclaimed property specialists to see if the State is holding any money for you:

Jackson County Civic Center
2902 Shortcut Road, Pascagoula
Thursday, March 8, 2018
3:00 to 6:00 pm

Events like these over the past several months have helped reunite many local residents with their money. For instance, an event in Desoto County just a few weeks ago has resulted in nearly $89,000 worth of claims for 37 people there.

You can always check the State’s unclaimed property list on my website . The list is constantly changing, so don’t just check it once and think you might be done! And, if you do think you have some property listed and you plan to come see us at the Jackson County Civic Center, bring along the following to help expedite your claim:

·        ​​​​​Photo ID (driver’s license, passport, military ID card, etc.)
·        Your Social Security Card
·        Proof of address (utility bill, etc.)
·        Proof of name change (marriage license, divorce decree, etc.)
·        If the owner is deceased, bring the death certificate, will, obituary, or affidavit of death

In the just over six years I have been your Treasurer, we have distributed nearly $80 million in unclaimed property. That’s over 52% of all the money distributed through the Mississippi program since it began in 1982. We know that money can make a real difference in your life and it is our mission to reunite you with it.
College Savings Mississippi at the Coliseum This Weekend
College Savings Mississippi will host the fourth annual Savings Shootout at the 2018 Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) State Basketball Tournament at the Coliseum in Jackson on March 8, 9, and 10.

Participants will compete during halftime of each of the twelve games. Contestants will have 60 seconds to make as many free-throws as possible and the contestant with the highest number will win a $529 MACS (Mississippi Affordable College Savings) scholarship. Over the course of the Tournament, we’ll award over $6,300 in MACS scholarships!

This is the fourth year we have partnered with the MHSAA to hold the Savings Shootout and it has become a highly anticipated part of the games. College Savings Mississippi uses events like this to both promote education savings and help jumpstart some Mississippians on the road to higher education.

Over the past several years, we’ve awarded over $125,000 in scholarships like these. They have always been a great way to help Mississippi families save for their higher education goals. But now that MACS can also be used for K-12 tuition, they are a great way to save for your child’s education from Day One!

You can find all the rules for the Savings Shootout on my website . And, look for Echo while you’re at the Tournament cheering on your team!
Thank You, Mississippi Artists
I want to thank all the teachers, parents, and school administrators who encouraged Mississippi’s young artists to participate in the 2018 College Savings Mississippi Art Contest. We had nearly 1,300 entries this year – a more than 50% increase over last year’s submissions. Our judges are going to have a hard time deliberating with so much amazing talent on display in these entries.

We will have a ceremony for our winners on April 4 th so stay tuned to find out who wins this year’s MACS scholarships!
MPACT Report Delivered to the Legislature
For the fifth time, the College Savings Mississippi Board of Directors has made a special appropriation request of the Legislature to help address a shortfall in funding in the Legacy portion of the Mississippi Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (MPACT) program.

As you may recall, in 2012, shortly after I took office, the Board, which I chair, deferred enrollment in MPACT in order to do the first actuarial audit of the program. Unfortunately, the actuaries confirmed our concerns that the structure of the program was putting the long-term sustainability of MPACT at risk.

The Board restructured the program and reopened it to new contracts in October 2014. We’re pleased to say that the Horizon portion of the program, or those since the re-opening, is fiscally sound and meeting its funding target. Overall, the restructuring has made MPACT more cost-effective for savers and cost-neutral for Mississippi taxpayers.

However, the funding liabilities from before the deferral still exist. The most recent actuarial report shows that Legacy-MPACT is only 69.4% funded and has an unfunded liability of $135.4 million. If left unaddressed, the Legacy program will be insolvent by 2026.

The Board is committed to addressing this program as early as possible to minimize the impact on State taxpayers, who will have to foot the bill to close the shortfall since MPACT is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the State. The special appropriation requests made by the Board are an effort to incrementally close the shortfall, reducing the final impact for taxpayers. I am hopeful that the Legislature will address this year’s request so we can start to put the Legacy program on surer footing.
Office of the Mississippi State Treasurer
Post Office Box 138
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
P: 601.359.3600 / F: 601.359.2001