Luzerne County Courthouse
                                 File photo

Luzerne County Courthouse

File photo

The owners of approximately 31,000 vehicles in Luzerne County can now claim $5 overpayments of a vehicle registration fee no longer in effect, county Manager Romilda Crocamo announced Friday.

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.

Council learned in August the state was willing to process the overpayments as unclaimed property so impacted residents have a means to recoup a refund.

The county administration said the unclaimed property option through the state made sense so the county would not have to spend money attempting to return overpayments.

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An announcement about the refund process is available through the large “return of $5 fee” link on the main page at luzernecounty.org.

State Treasury Department spokesman Erik Arneson said Friday anyone who wants to file a claim for a refund related to the county’s vehicle registration fee can visit the Pennsylvania Treasury Department’s Unclaimed Property webpage, search for their name, and complete the online claims process at patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property/.

In addition, Treasury will be working with Luzerne County on a plan to enable everyone who is owed a refund to receive it without needing to file an individual claim, Arneson said, promising more details early next week.

The county law office had spearheaded communications with the state treasury department’s Bureau of Unclaimed Property to activate the process.

An Excel spreadsheet template was required to add the county’s vehicle fee overpayments to the state’s unclaimed property database. As a result, 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.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.