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90_HB1919
40 ILCS 5/4-108 from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108
30 ILCS 805/8.21 new
Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Pension
Code. Allows members and retirees to receive up to 24 months
of credit for military service not preceded by employment
upon payment of the corresponding employee and employer
contributions, plus interest. Amends the State Mandates Act
to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective
immediately.
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1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Pension Code by changing
2 Section 4-108 and to amend the State Mandates Act.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
6 changing Section 4-108 as follows:
7 (40 ILCS 5/4-108) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-108)
8 Sec. 4-108. Creditable service.
9 (a) Creditable service is the time served as a
10 firefighter of a municipality. In computing creditable
11 service, furloughs and leaves of absence without pay
12 exceeding 30 days in any one year shall not be counted, but
13 leaves of absence for illness or accident regardless of
14 length, and periods of disability for which a firefighter
15 received no disability pension payments under this Article,
16 shall be counted.
17 (b) Furloughs and leaves of absence of 30 days or less
18 in any one year may be counted as creditable service, if the
19 firefighter makes the contribution to the fund that would
20 have been required had he or she not been on furlough or
21 leave of absence. To qualify for this creditable service,
22 the firefighter must pay the required contributions to the
23 fund not more than 90 days subsequent to the termination of
24 the furlough or leave of absence, to the extent that the
25 municipality has not made such contribution on his or her
26 behalf.
27 (c) Creditable service includes:
28 (1) Service in the military, naval or air forces of
29 the United States entered upon when the person was an
30 active firefighter, provided that, upon applying for a
31 permanent pension, and in accordance with the rules of
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1 the board the firefighter pays into the fund the amount
2 that would have been contributed had he or she been a
3 regular contributor during such period of service, if and
4 to the extent that the municipality which the firefighter
5 served made no such contributions in his or her behalf.
6 The total amount of such creditable service shall not
7 exceed 5 years, except that any firefighter who on July
8 1, 1973 had more than 5 years of such creditable service
9 shall receive the total amount thereof as of that date.
10 (1.5) In addition to any creditable service
11 established under paragraph (1) of this subsection (c),
12 creditable service may be granted for up to 24 months of
13 service in the armed forces of the United States for
14 which credit is not available under paragraph (1), but no
15 credit may be granted under this paragraph that would
16 result in the total amount of credit established by a
17 firefighter under this paragraph and paragraph (1) to
18 exceed 5 years.
19 In order to receive creditable service for military
20 service under this paragraph (1.5), a firefighter must
21 (1) apply to the fund in writing and provide evidence of
22 the military service that is satisfactory to the Board
23 and (2) make contributions to the Fund equal to (i) the
24 employee contributions that would have been required had
25 the service been rendered as a firefighter, plus (ii) an
26 amount determined by the board to be equal to the
27 employer's normal cost of the benefits accrued for that
28 military service, plus (iii) interest on items (i) and
29 (ii) at the rate of 6% per year, compounded annually,
30 from the date of the service (or the date of first
31 membership in the fund, if later) to the date of payment.
32 This paragraph (1.5) also applies to a person who,
33 on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, is
34 a deferred pensioner or is receiving a retirement
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1 pension, provided that the person applies to the board
2 before July 1, 1998. In the case of a person receiving a
3 retirement pension who applies for credit allowable under
4 this paragraph and makes the required contributions, the
5 pension shall be recalculated to include the additional
6 service credit, with the increase taking effect on the
7 first pension payment date following the date of payment
8 of the required contributions. In calculating the
9 automatic annual increase for a pension that has been
10 recalculated under this Section, the increase
11 attributable to the additional service allowable under
12 this paragraph shall be included in the calculation of
13 automatic annual increases accruing after the effective
14 date of the recalculation.
15 (2) Service prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter
16 initially excluded from participation by reason of age
17 who elected to participate and paid the required
18 contributions for such service.
19 (3) Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an
20 officer in a statewide firefighters' association when he
21 is on a leave of absence from a municipality's payroll,
22 provided that (i) the firefighter has at least 10 years
23 of creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the
24 firefighter contributes to the fund the amount that he
25 would have contributed had he remained an active member
26 of the fund, and (iii) the employee or statewide
27 firefighter association contributes to the fund an amount
28 equal to the employer's required contribution as
29 determined by the board.
30 (4) Time spent as an on-call fireman for a
31 municipality, calculated at the rate of one year of
32 creditable service for each 5 years of time spent as an
33 on-call fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has at
34 least 18 years of creditable service as an active
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1 firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 14 years
2 as an on-call firefighter for the municipality, (iii) the
3 firefighter applies for such creditable service within 30
4 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of
5 1989, (iv) the firefighter contributes to the Fund an
6 amount representing employee contributions for the number
7 of years of creditable service granted under this
8 subdivision (4), based on the salary and contribution
9 rate in effect for the firefighter at the date of entry
10 into the Fund, to be determined by the board, and (v) not
11 more than 3 years of creditable service may be granted
12 under this subdivision (4).
13 Creditable service shall not under any other
14 circumstances include time spent as a volunteer
15 firefighter, whether or not any compensation was received
16 therefor. The change made in this Section by Public Act
17 83-0463 is intended to be a restatement and clarification
18 of existing law, and does not imply that creditable
19 service was previously allowed under this Article for
20 time spent as a volunteer firefighter.
21 (5) Time served between July 1, 1976 and July 1,
22 1988 in the position of protective inspection officer or
23 administrative assistant for fire services, for a
24 municipality with a population under 10,000 that is
25 located in a county with a population over 3,000,000 and
26 that maintains a firefighters' pension fund under this
27 Article, if the position included firefighting duties,
28 notwithstanding that the person may not have held an
29 appointment as a firefighter, provided that application
30 is made to the pension fund within 30 days after the
31 effective date of this amendatory Act of 1991, and the
32 corresponding contributions are paid for the number of
33 years of service granted, based upon the salary and
34 contribution rate in effect for the firefighter at the
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1 date of entry into the pension fund, as determined by the
2 Board.
3 (6) Service before becoming a participant by a
4 firefighter initially excluded from participation by
5 reason of age who becomes a participant under the
6 amendment to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of
7 1993 and pays the required contributions for such
8 service.
9 (Source: P.A. 89-52, eff. 6-30-95.)
10 Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
11 Section 8.21 as follows:
12 (30 ILCS 805/8.21 new)
13 Sec. 8.21. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6
14 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required
15 for the implementation of any mandate created by this
16 amendatory Act of 1997.
17 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
18 becoming law.