TSA Collected Close to $1 Million in Coins Last Year
You know those coins that you sometimes forget in TSA bins when going through airport checkpoints? Apparently they add up to some serious cash throughout the year. The information comes from the “Unclaimed Money at Airports in Fiscal Year 2019” report that was submitted to Congress by the Transportation Security Administration.
This report provides the amount of unclaimed money recovered from each airport and the total amount recovered during FY 2019, and describes how unclaimed money is being used. Unclaimed money is money that passengers leave behind at airport screening checkpoints. In most cases, this money consists of coins that passengers remove from their pockets while undergoing security screening. Maybe that is why we have a national coin shortage?
During Fiscal Year 2019, TSA collected a total of $926,030.44 in unclaimed money. That is close to a million, mostly in coins, that is deposited into a special fund account. $18,899.09 of that was in foreign currency. On September 30, 2019, TSA had a total of $3,618,696 in resources remaining from unclaimed money collected in FY 2019 and prior years.
The report also breaks down the money recovered by airport. New York’s JFK International Airport accounted for the most unclaimed cash in 2019, $98,110. San Francisco International Airport came in second with $52,668.70 and in third place is Miami International Airport where there was $47,694.03 in unclaimed cash.
“TSA tries to ensure that all traveler property, including loose change, finds its way back to the proper owner,” the agency wrote. “However, when loose change does not, it will be directed to critical aviation security programs.” The funds were used for for training and development, printing and distributing bookmarks at checkpoints nationwide to publicize the TSA Pre✓® program and more.
You can read the full report here.
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