JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An appeals court has ruled that a previous calculation of damages owed to about 3,000 blind Missouri residents receiving state benefits was too low.

The St. Louis Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/1MRLuDR ) that the decision Tuesday means the state could soon provide more than $19 million in damages for shortchanging their benefits.

An attorney representing the blind residents says the new figure is up from a previous court’s determination of less than $200,000.

A 2006 lawsuit filed by the Missouri Council of the Blind claims the state had been miscalculating the monthly pension for blind people for years. The council’s executive director says the problem was addressed but the group has been battling the state over damages.

The governor’s office didn’t respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.