Treasurer describes $60.5M in stale Casimir checks, mailing costs and AI pilot to trim undeliverables

Maricopa County Treasurer John Allen and his chief of staff, Jordan Dale, presented the treasurer’s FY27 budget and highlighted several fiscal and operational issues including a large volume of stale checks and plans to reduce mailing waste.

Dale told supervisors the office expects a carryforward of roughly $150,000 for implementing work related to the Casimir court decision and that about $60.5 million in checks remain uncashed. Allen explained that those amounts are drawn as checks and therefore not under daily county control until claimants seek reissuance via board approvals. He said county and school distributions must be returned in the same parcel ratios when checks lapse, and that the office is processing outstanding claimant requests through November 2026.

On operations, the treasurer noted personnel are the largest cost driver (about 75% of operating costs) and highlighted mailing volumes and costs for tax bills and delinquent notices. He described a pilot AI tool the office calls “Cogability” to identify undeliverable addresses and said initial testing has shown about a 93% internal correction rate, though the office said the technology has not yet been fully validated against real‑world results.

Board members asked whether the stale funds are invested and how distributions will flow after lapse; treasurer staff said the amounts are encumbered by issued checks and not available to invest. Supervisors also pressed for clearer materials in advance of presentations; several noted the treasurer’s materials arrived late.

Next steps: the treasurer will provide follow‑up material on the Casimir carryforward accounting and on the AI pilot's validation plan.