SALEM, OR (KPTV) -
An audit found the state of Oregon overpaid the unemployed $41 million in jobless benefits from January 2010 through November 2011, according to the report from the Secretary of State's Office.
The Employment Department has sent letters to more than 12,000 people affected, stating that they've been overpaid, then asking them to repay the amount.
The $41 million overpaid represents just about 1 percent of the total jobless benefits paid out to Oregonians last year, according to auditors.
"We take it seriously," Dee Anna Hassanpour, the deputy administrator of unemployment benefits, told Fox 12.
Hassanpour says computer errors, combined with the huge volume of claims, and complicated extensions, caused some people to be paid twice, or paid more than their weekly benefits amount.
"We didn't have something in the system to catch that," said Hassanpour. "During the course of the audit, as they pointed that out, we realized that was an error, and we needed to go back and reprogram the system."
Hassanpour says in addition to computer improvements, the number of staff reviewing possible overpayments has been increased from four to 10 people.
As for the people affected by the audit, a spokesman says they should have already received their notices, which began going out last year.
So far, $24 million has been recovered, according to a spokesman for the Employment Department.
However, people can apply for a waiver and hearing; they have up to 20 days to appeal.
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