DENVER -- The Colorado state treasurer wants to sell $80 million in unclaimed stocks and bonds held by the state and use the interest to promote tourism.

Mike Coffman, who announced the plan Tuesday, estimated the interest from a trust fund would raise $3.4 million the first year.

He said the sluggish economy and the drought have discouraged tourists, but this is a way that to add millions to the Colorado Tourism Office annual advertising budget without using a dime of taxpayer funds.

"These funds will give the state tourism office a stable and significant source of dollars, without milking taxpayers, to help promote Colorado across the country and around the world," Coffman said.

The money would come from the conversion to cash of $80 million in stocks and bonds -- unclaimed property held by the treasurer's office until the rightful owners are found. The money would be placed in a trust fund and interest income would go to the Colorado Tourism Office.

Coffman said state Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, has agreed to introduce legislation for the program. Rep. Al White, R-Winter Park, said he will co-sponsor the bill.

The Colorado Tourism Office was created in 2000 after years of struggling by agencies trying to promote the state. Voters in 1992 allowed a tax financing tourism to expire, and the tourism budget plunged from about $14 million a year to roughly $1 million to $2 million.

The Legislature allocated $2.8 million for tourism in the 2003-4 budget, according to the treasurer's office.

Coffman said the trust fund's principal would be built by using the unclaimed portion of equities turned over to the state annually -- about $2.5 million each year. He estimated funding for tourism would eventually increase to more than $5 million a year within 15 years.

The Great Colorado Payback, the state's unclaimed property program, holds such abandoned assets as the contents of safety deposit boxes, savings accounts, stock and bonds and jewelry.

Owners can claim the cash value if items are sold.

Since the unclaimed property program's creation in 1987, the state had treated equities as certificates, and never included the market value of the assets in the total amount held in trust by the state. All told, the state is sitting on roughly $80 million in stocks and mutual fund accounts-depending on market prices. Coffman took the initiative to change the method of accounting for these assets, spread across more than 30 brokerage houses, and will be consolidating the equities into a single management account. Coffman expects to save state taxpayers thousands of dollars in management fees and streamline the accounting process within the unclaimed property division with the consolidation.

The decision to sell the equities was made by the Treasurer after consultations with investment professionals led Coffman to determine that the state's fiduciary responsibility -- as with a private financial manager -- requires it to sell the assets to preserve their value and not expose the owner to risk that may be inappropriate for the unknown owner's objectives.

After the assets are sold, the rightful owner has an indefinite amount of time to claim the cash value.

"My most important priority is to reunite these lost or forgotten assets with the rightful owner or their heir," Coffman explained. "But while they are waiting to be claimed, we can meet our fiduciary duties to the owner by preserving the asset's value while using the investment proceeds to fund tourism promotion without spending one dime of taxpayer funds. This is a win or unclaimed property owners and a huge shot in the arm for the state's economy."

For more information on the unclaimed property program or to search for your name in the Great Colorado Payback database the state treasurer's Web site or call (303) 894-2443. There is no charge for the service and no time limit to file a claim. For information on the state tourism office, visit the department's Web site.