(a) Except as limited pursuant to Section 22008:

(1)  All amounts that have been overpaid due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, nonsubmission of information, or on the basis of fraud or intentional misrepresentation by, or on behalf of, a recipient of a benefit, annuity, or refund shall be recovered, as applicable, from the member, participant, former member, former participant, or beneficiary. This paragraph excludes amounts overpaid pursuant to paragraph (2), (3), or (4).

Terms Used In California Education Code 24616.2

  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.

(2) All amounts that have been overpaid due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, or nonsubmission of information by an employer that reports directly to the system shall be recovered, as applicable, from that employer.

(3) All amounts that have been overpaid due to inaccurate information, untimely submission, or nonsubmission of information by a county superintendent of schools that reports directly to the system on behalf of an employer shall be recovered, as applicable, from that county superintendent of schools. If the overpayment resulted from an error of an employer, the county superintendent of schools may recover the amounts required from that employer pursuant to Section 23012.

(A) If the county superintendent of schools provided notice to, and received consent from, an employer to submit that employer’s monthly report, inclusive of any modifications by the county superintendent of schools on behalf of the employer, an overpayment due to inaccurate information shall be considered an error of that employer.

(B) If the untimely submission or nonsubmission of information was the result of the employer’s untimely submission or nonsubmission of information, the overpayment shall be considered an error of the employer.

(4) (A) All amounts that have been overpaid due to an error by the system shall be recovered, with interest as specified in subparagraph (B), as follows:

(i) Commencing July 1, 2024, 85 percent of this amount resulting from benefit adjustments that take place within the fiscal year ending in the immediately preceding calendar year, the specific amount of which shall be determined by the board, shall be made as a continuous appropriation from the General Fund to the Controller each July 1 for transfer to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.

(ii) Commencing July 1, 2024, 15 percent of this amount resulting from benefit adjustments that take place within the fiscal year ending in the immediately preceding calendar year, the specific amount of which shall be determined by the board, shall be recovered from all employers that report directly to the system in amounts proportionate to their share of contributions for that fiscal year, including the contributions of those employers for whom a county superintendent of schools reports. A county superintendent of schools that reports directly to the system on behalf of employers may recover amounts proportionate to each employer’s share of contributions for that fiscal year from those employers pursuant to Section 23012.

(B) The amount to be recovered in accordance with subparagraph (A) shall be calculated to include regular interest from the date of the overpayment to the date of recovery.

(b) (1) An employer shall remit any amount required to be paid to the system pursuant to this section within 30 days of the date of the invoice. If the system does not receive payment within 30 days, the amount owed to the system shall be recalculated to include regular interest from the initial due date.

(2) If a payment pursuant to paragraph (1) is not received within 30 days of the date of invoice, the Controller shall, upon the order of the board, reduce subsequent payments from the State School Fund to the county for deposit in the county school service fund by the amount owed or, upon the request of a county superintendent of schools to the county auditor, the Controller shall reduce payments to a school district for deposit in the district general fund by the amount owed. The Controller shall then pay to the system the amount owed for deposit in the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.

(c) Determination of an amount that has been overpaid shall be provided in writing by the system to the party responsible for the overpayment pursuant to subdivision (a). The system shall identify the error, document the source of the error, and specify the total amount overpaid due to the error.

(d) This section shall not apply to a recovery made under Section 24015, 24016, or 24017 or to a benefit or allowance reduction required pursuant to Section 24010, 24109, 24114, 24201.5, 24214, or 24214.5.

(e) Except as explicitly provided by its provisions, this section shall not be interpreted to limit the system’s authority to correct benefits.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 215, Sec. 3. (SB 432) Effective January 1, 2024.)

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