The Associated Press

PORTLAND - The Public Employees Retirement system is gearing up to start collecting millions of dollars of overpayments sent out to Oregon retirees.

The Oregonian (http://bit.ly/pRMot5 ) reports that the Oregon Supreme Court ruled last week that the state can start collecting the overpayments.

The issue came up in 2006 when the PERS board tried to collect overpayments made between 2000 and 2004 based on an overestimate of investment returns.

After the system sent out demands of nearly $28,000 from people who were paid too much, retirees sued and lost.

The court ruled there was no breach of contract rights and that the board did not violate any procedural due process rights.

Money that is recouped will go back into the retirement system trust fund.