Ask CITYVIEW

How long are safety deposit boxes held on to, and what’s usually found inside?

State Treasurer Roby Smith announced there would be an auction of abandoned safety deposit boxes on May 30. It may sound upsetting that some worthwhile belongings are being auctioned off, but Smith ensures that the treasury department does everything it can to locate the owners.

“We have tried for years to reunite them with their rightful owner without any success, and we just don’t have the space to continue to hold on to them. The items in this sale are some that have been held for over 10 years,” Smith said in a press release. 

CITYVIEW contacted the treasury department to see how long safety deposit boxes are held on to.

“Safety deposit boxes are turned over to our office after three years of dormancy — meaning they haven’t paid for them/the bank lost contact,” said Alicia Callanan, consumer programs and outreach manager. “We then hold on to them for a minimum of five years before selling them to make room for the incoming boxes. For this auction, they are boxes we have been holding since 2009 or longer,” said Callanan. 

Callanan said the items normally sell within a large range of prices due to the contents.

“We never sell the important documents, and each item is appraised prior to auction and set with a minimum bid accordingly,” she said. “Our goal is to get the best value for the original owner of the box. We will then hold the funds indefinitely in the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt until the rightful owner or heir comes forward to claim.”

Items that were up for auction with bidding expiring on June 14 at 9 a.m. on the Greater Iowa Treasure Hunt auction site included coins dating back as far as 1884, rings, necklaces, pendants and pocket watches. An extensive sports card collection that included a Michael Jordan rookie card was pulled from the auction to be assessed for its value.

The treasury department plans on having these auctions every two weeks until space is available for additional inventory.

Did ‘No Mow May’ result in an increase in overgrown lawn complaints?

Des Moines’ “No Mow May” initiative sought to improve pollination and conditions for flowers, but did the city have any problems with overgrown lawns?

Residents reported their own grass reaching more than a foot tall (the height in which you can send complaints to the city). City of Des Moines communications specialist, Devin Perry, responded to CITYVIEW about the number of complaints they received. 

“The City of Des Moines began accepting reports of overgrown lawns the last week of May, and the Neighborhood Services Department didn’t start processing those reports until June 1. Once we began processing the reports, the City sent 60 notices to properties. With this being the first year, the City is processing the reports directly; 60 is a reasonably large number,” said Perry. 

“The City understands everyone can’t mow on June 1, so to begin the month there was a two-week buffer period allowing properties to be mowed without further action. There are properties that did not mow within that time period. For properties that weren’t mowed, they are charged a fee for the cost of the City sending out a team to mow. There are different sized properties throughout the City, so the fee isn’t the same each time,” said Perry. n