Ore. Court: State Can Collect Pension Overpayments

Oregon collectively paid 38,000 of its former public employees $1.6 billion more than they were supposed to receive. After realizing the mistake, the state's Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) asked for the extra cash back, but the employees sued to keep their money. Five years later, the state Supreme Court has decided to let the state collect what it overpaid, according to The Oregonian.

PERS will start collecting overpayments made to people who left public service on or after April 1, 2000 and before April 1, 2004. And no, this is not an April Fool's joke. When the state initially asked for the money back in 2006, it wanted almost $28,000 from 1,900 employees; however, it's unclear how many people will be affected by the recent ruling. Most retirees will face smaller monthly checks, but some will have to empty their wallets to pay back large sums of money. Hopefully, a union spokesperson told The Oregonian, the agency will work out payment plans with those affected.

Retirees were initially overpaid because the agency changed the percentage of employees' 1999 earnings that would go toward their pension from 20 percent to 11.3 percent.