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While some may have taxes and other payments on their mind, one Gainesville resident received a letter from the state of Florida stating he had forgotten about some unclaimed property. G.W. Robinson, the owner of G.W. Robinson Builders, received a check for nearly $160,000. Robinson says he forgot about the stock he purchased a long time ago.

The Bureau of Unclaimed Property says there are 8-million accounts of people like Robinson, that have unclaimed property in the state of Florida. In Alachua County, there are close to 83,000 unclaimed property accounts, which in total represent more than $9-million. In Marion county the amount is close to $7-million. In Bradford, more than $700,000. The state's Bureau says statewide the total amount of unclaimed property reaches $1.5-billion.

According to the State's Bureau, Florida has one of the nation's most effective and efficient unclaimed property programs, returning nearly $172-million last fiscal year.

State officials say unclaimed property is deposited into the State School Trust Fund. This money benefits public schools throughout Florida and has been around since 1961. You can check online to see if you may have some unclaimed property at http://www.FLTreasureHunt.org.