093_HB0408

 
                                     LRB093 03930 EFG 03967 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to public employee benefits.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.   The  Illinois  Pension  Code  is amended by
 5    changing Section 4-121 as follows:

 6        (40 ILCS 5/4-121) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-121)
 7        Sec. 4-121.  Board created.  There  is  created  in  each
 8    municipality a board of trustees to be known as the "Board of
 9    Trustees  of the Firefighters' Pension Fund".  The membership
10    of the board for each municipality shall be, respectively, as
11    follows:  in cities, the treasurer, clerk, marshall or  chief
12    officer  of the fire department, and the comptroller if there
13    is one, or if not, the mayor; in each  township,  village  or
14    incorporated  town, the president of the municipality's board
15    of trustees, the village  or  town  clerk,  village  or  town
16    attorney,  the  village  or  town  treasurer,  and  the chief
17    officer of the fire department; and in each  fire  protection
18    district,  the  president and other 2 members of its board of
19    trustees and the marshall or chief of its fire department  or
20    service,  as  the  case may be; and in all the municipalities
21    above designated  3  additional  persons  chosen  from  their
22    active  firefighters  and  one  other  person who has retired
23    under the "Firemen's Pension  Fund  Act  of  1919",  or  this
24    Article.
25        For the purposes of this Section, a firefighter receiving
26    a   disability   pension   shall   be  considered  a  retired
27    firefighter.   In  the  event  that  there  are  no   retired
28    firefighters under the Fund or if none is willing to serve on
29    the  board,  then  an  additional active firefighter shall be
30    elected to the board in lieu of the retired firefighter  that
31    would otherwise be elected.
 
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 1        If   the  regularly  constituted  fire  department  of  a
 2    municipality  is  dissolved  and  Section  4-106.1   is   not
 3    applicable,  the board shall continue to exist and administer
 4    the Fund so long as there continues to be  any  annuitant  or
 5    deferred  pensioner  in  the  Fund.  In such cases, elections
 6    shall continue to be  held  as  specified  in  this  Section,
 7    except  that:  (1)  deferred pensioners shall be deemed to be
 8    active members for the purposes of such  elections;  (2)  any
 9    otherwise  unfillable  positions  on  the board, including ex
10    officio positions, shall  be  filled  by  election  from  the
11    remaining  firefighters  and deferred pensioners of the Fund,
12    to the extent possible; and (3)  if  the  membership  of  the
13    board  falls  below  3  persons,  the  Illinois  Director  of
14    Insurance  or  his  designee  shall be deemed a member of the
15    board, ex officio.
16        The  members  chosen  from   the   active   and   retired
17    firefighters  shall  be  elected by ballot at elections to be
18    held on the 3rd Monday in April of the applicable years under
19    the Australian ballot system, at such place or places, in the
20    municipality,  and  under  such  regulations  as   shall   be
21    prescribed by the board.
22        No  person  shall  cast  more  than  one  vote  for  each
23    candidate  for  whom  he  or she is eligible to vote.  In the
24    elections for board members to  be  chosen  from  the  active
25    firefighters, all active firefighters and no others may vote.
26    In  the elections for board members to be chosen from retired
27    firefighters, the retired  firefighters  and  no  others  may
28    vote.
29        Each member of the board so elected shall hold office for
30    a  term  of  3  years and until his or her successor has been
31    duly elected and qualified.
32        The board shall canvass the  ballots  and  declare  which
33    persons  have  been  elected  and  for  what  term  or  terms
34    respectively.   In  case  of  a  tie  vote  between 2 or more
 
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 1    candidates, the board shall determine by lot which  candidate
 2    or  candidates  have  been elected and for what term or terms
 3    respectively.  In the event of the failure,  resignation,  or
 4    inability  to  act  of any board member, a successor shall be
 5    elected for the unexpired term at a special  election  called
 6    by  the  board  and conducted in the same manner as a regular
 7    election.
 8        The  board  shall  elect  annually  from  its  members  a
 9    president and secretary.
10        Board members shall not receive  or  have  any  right  to
11    receive any salary from a pension fund for services performed
12    as board members.
13    (Source: P.A. 84-1039.)

14        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
15    becoming law.