Extra cash: $26 million of unused money found in New Jersey bank accounts

Sure, you’ve found loose change before but how about $26 million of unused money?  In New Jersey, two years of combing through the books has netted the state millions of dollars in extra cash from bank accounts going as far back as the 1960’s.

The Statehouse Bureau reports the money was discovered by the Christie administration, after it went through old bank accounts.  State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said yesterday he hopes to use the money to pay down a small portion of the state’s debt.

In order for him to do that, he would need the persmission of the Legislature, which is controlled by the Democrats.

Treasury spokesman Andrew Pratt told the Statehouse Bureau the $26 million was left over from bond issues going back decades in which the state borrowed money for specific projects, finished them but never did anything with the cash.