Public Act 094-0856
 
HB4317 Enrolled LRB094 16018 AMC 51253 b

    AN ACT concerning public employee benefits.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by changing
Section 4-108 and by adding Section 4-108.5 as follows:
 
    (40 ILCS 5/4-108)  (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108)
    Sec. 4-108. Creditable service.
    (a) Creditable service is the time served as a firefighter
of a municipality. In computing creditable service, furloughs
and leaves of absence without pay exceeding 30 days in any one
year shall not be counted, but leaves of absence for illness or
accident regardless of length, and periods of disability for
which a firefighter received no disability pension payments
under this Article, shall be counted.
    (b) Furloughs and leaves of absence of 30 days or less in
any one year may be counted as creditable service, if the
firefighter makes the contribution to the fund that would have
been required had he or she not been on furlough or leave of
absence. To qualify for this creditable service, the
firefighter must pay the required contributions to the fund not
more than 90 days subsequent to the termination of the furlough
or leave of absence, to the extent that the municipality has
not made such contribution on his or her behalf.
    (c) Creditable service includes:
        (1) Service in the military, naval or air forces of the
    United States entered upon when the person was an active
    firefighter, provided that, upon applying for a permanent
    pension, and in accordance with the rules of the board the
    firefighter pays into the fund the amount that would have
    been contributed had he or she been a regular contributor
    during such period of service, if and to the extent that
    the municipality which the firefighter served made no such
    contributions in his or her behalf. The total amount of
    such creditable service shall not exceed 5 years, except
    that any firefighter who on July 1, 1973 had more than 5
    years of such creditable service shall receive the total
    amount thereof as of that date.
        (2) Service prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter
    initially excluded from participation by reason of age who
    elected to participate and paid the required contributions
    for such service.
        (3) Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an
    officer in a statewide firefighters' association when he is
    on a leave of absence from a municipality's payroll,
    provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 10 years of
    creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the
    firefighter contributes to the fund the amount that he
    would have contributed had he remained an active member of
    the fund, and (iii) the employee or statewide firefighter
    association contributes to the fund an amount equal to the
    employer's required contribution as determined by the
    board.
        (4) Time spent as an on-call fireman for a
    municipality, calculated at the rate of one year of
    creditable service for each 5 years of time spent as an
    on-call fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has at
    least 18 years of creditable service as an active
    firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 14 years
    as an on-call firefighter for the municipality, (iii) the
    firefighter applies for such creditable service within 30
    days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
    1989, (iv) the firefighter contributes to the Fund an
    amount representing employee contributions for the number
    of years of creditable service granted under this
    subdivision (4), based on the salary and contribution rate
    in effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the
    Fund, to be determined by the board, and (v) not more than
    3 years of creditable service may be granted under this
    subdivision (4).
        Except as provided in Section 4-108.5, creditable
    Creditable service shall not under any other circumstances
    include time spent as a volunteer firefighter, whether or
    not any compensation was received therefor. The change made
    in this Section by Public Act 83-0463 is intended to be a
    restatement and clarification of existing law, and does not
    imply that creditable service was previously allowed under
    this Article for time spent as a volunteer firefighter.
        (5) Time served between July 1, 1976 and July 1, 1988
    in the position of protective inspection officer or
    administrative assistant for fire services, for a
    municipality with a population under 10,000 that is located
    in a county with a population over 3,000,000 and that
    maintains a firefighters' pension fund under this Article,
    if the position included firefighting duties,
    notwithstanding that the person may not have held an
    appointment as a firefighter, provided that application is
    made to the pension fund within 30 days after the effective
    date of this amendatory Act of 1991, and the corresponding
    contributions are paid for the number of years of service
    granted, based upon the salary and contribution rate in
    effect for the firefighter at the date of entry into the
    pension fund, as determined by the Board.
        (6) Service before becoming a participant by a
    firefighter initially excluded from participation by
    reason of age who becomes a participant under the amendment
    to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of 1993 and
    pays the required contributions for such service.
        (7) Up to 3 years of time during which the firefighter
    receives a disability pension under Section 4-110,
    4-110.1, or 4-111, provided that (i) the firefighter
    returns to active service after the disability for a period
    at least equal to the period for which credit is to be
    established and (ii) the firefighter makes contributions
    to the fund based on the rates specified in Section 4-118.1
    and the salary upon which the disability pension is based.
    These contributions may be paid at any time prior to the
    commencement of a retirement pension. The firefighter may,
    but need not, elect to have the contributions deducted from
    the disability pension or to pay them in installments on a
    schedule approved by the board. If not deducted from the
    disability pension, the contributions shall include
    interest at the rate of 6% per year, compounded annually,
    from the date for which service credit is being established
    to the date of payment. If contributions are paid under
    this subdivision (c)(7) in excess of those needed to
    establish the credit, the excess shall be refunded. This
    subdivision (c)(7) applies to persons receiving a
    disability pension under Section 4-110, 4-110.1, or 4-111
    on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st
    General Assembly, as well as persons who begin to receive
    such a disability pension after that date.
(Source: P.A. 91-466, eff. 8-6-99.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/4-108.5 new)
    Sec. 4-108.5. Service for providing certain fire
protection services.
    (a) A firefighter for a participating municipality who was
employed as an active firefighter providing fire protection for
a village or incorporated town with a population of greater
than 10,000 but less that 11,000 located in a county with a
population of greater than 600,000 and less than 700,000, as
estimated by the United States Census on July 1, 2004, may
elect to establish creditable service for periods of that
employment in which the firefighter provided fire protection
services for the participating municipality if, by May 1, 2007,
the firefighter (i) makes written application to the Board and
(ii) pays into the pension fund the amount that the person
would have contributed had deductions from salary been made for
this purpose at the time the service was rendered, plus
interest thereon at 6% per annum compounded annually from the
time the service was rendered until the date of payment.
    (b) Time spent providing fire protection on a part-time
basis for a village or incorporated town with a population of
greater than 10,000 but less than 11,000 located in a county
with a population of greater than 600,000 and less than
700,000, as estimated by the United States Census on July 1,
2004, shall be calculated at the rate of one year of creditable
service for each 5 years of time spent providing such fire
protection, if the firefighter (i) has at least 5 years of
creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) has at least
5 years of such service with a qualifying village or
incorporated town, (iii) applies for the creditable service
within 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 94th General Assembly, and (iv) contributes to the Fund
an amount representing employee contributions for the number of
years of creditable service granted under this subsection (b)
based on the salary and contribution rate in effect for the
firefighter at the date of entry into the fund, as determined
by the Board. The amount of creditable service granted under
this subsection (b) may not exceed 3 years.
 
    Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.30 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 805/8.30 new)
    Sec. 8.30. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8
of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the
implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of
the 94th General Assembly.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.