Perhaps not enough Ohioans have been trying to reclaim their money, as the state Department of Commerce Division of Unclaimed Funds has recruited Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel for a campaign to encourage them to search for and claim some of the approximately $4.8 billion in state coffers that does not actually belong to the state.

The money could be from dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, stocks and bonds, utility deposits, unclaimed wages and more.

Because of a new law that introduces a 10-year deadline on claiming those funds, some people are running out of time before their money really does belong to the state. Once it does, there’s no telling what your money might be used to build.

“It only takes a few minutes to check if there is money that belongs to you or your family,” Tressel said. “I encourage every Ohioan to visit the website, do a quick search, and make sure they aren’t leaving behind something that’s theirs.”

That website is unclaimedfunds.ohio.gov.

Officials know that if they ask more people to reclaim their funds, they’d better improve their speed in returning that money. For that reason, they have eliminated the W-9 Tax Form requirement and the need to have a claim form notarized, and have added staff to get the job done.

“Reuniting Ohioans with their hard-earned money is at the heart of our mission,” Division Superintendent Akil Hardy said. “This campaign, combined with the important work happening on the backend, will allow us to reach and return unclaimed funds to more Ohioans than ever before. Our goal is simple: We want every Ohioan to know that if they’ve left something behind, we’re here to help them get it back.”

Don’t ignore the reminder. It’s worth checking. The worst that could happen is you spend a few minutes finding out the state isn’t holding any more of your money than it should be. But it’s possible you could get some money back. Last year, the division returned more than $149.6 million through 67,879 claims.

Find out whether you could be next.