Public Act 100-0544
 
HB0688 EnrolledLRB100 06102 RPS 16134 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 
Sections 4-108,  4-108.6, and 6-227  and by adding Section 
3-110.12 as follows:
 
    (40 ILCS 5/3-110.12 new)
    Sec. 3-110.12. Transfer to Article 4 fund.
    (a) At any time during the
6 months  following the effective 
date of this Section, an active member of an Article 4 
firefighters' pension fund may apply for transfer to that fund 
of up to 6 years of his or her creditable service accumulated

in the  police pension fund under this Article that is 
administered by the same unit of local government if that 
active member was not subject to disciplinary action when he or 
she terminated employment with that police department.  The 
creditable service shall be transferred upon payment by
the 
police pension fund to the Article 4 fund of an amount
equal 
to:
        (1) the amounts accumulated to the credit of the 
    applicant on the books
of the fund on the date of transfer 
    for the service to be transferred; and
        (2) employer contributions in an amount equal to the 
    amount determined
under item (1); and
        (3) any interest paid by the applicant in order to 
    reinstate service.
    Participation in the police pension fund with respect to 
the transferred creditable service shall terminate on the date 
of transfer. 
    (b) At the time of applying for transfer of creditable 
service under this Section, an active member of an Article 4 
firefighters' pension fund may, for the purpose of that 
transfer, reinstate creditable service that was
terminated by 
receipt of a refund, by payment to the police pension fund of 
the
amount of the refund with interest thereon at the rate of 
6% per year,
compounded annually, from the date of the refund 
to the date of payment.
 



    (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. 

        (1.5) Up to 24 months of service in the military, 
    naval, or air forces of the United States that was served 
    prior to employment by a municipality or fire protection 
    district as a firefighter. To receive the credit for the 
    military service prior to the employment as a firefighter, 
    the firefighter must apply in writing to the fund and must 
    make contributions to the fund equal to (i) the employee 
    contributions that would have been required had the service 
    been rendered as a member, plus (ii) an amount determined 
    by the fund to be equal to the employer's normal cost of 
    the benefits accrued for that military service, plus (iii) 
    interest at the actuarially assumed rate provided by the 
    Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, 
    compounded annually from the first date of membership in 
    the fund to the date of payment on items (i) and (ii). The 
    changes to this paragraph (1.5) by this amendatory Act of 
    the 95th General Assembly apply only to participating 
    employees in service on or after its effective 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, (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, and (iv) for all leaves of absence under this 
    subdivision (3), including those beginning before the 
    effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General 
    Assembly, the firefighter continues to remain in sworn 
    status, subject to the professional standards of the public 
    employer or those terms established in statute.


        (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 
    service shall not
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.

        (8) Up to 6 years of service as a police officer and 
    participant in an Article 3 police pension fund 
    administered by the unit of local government that employs 
    the firefighter under this Article, provided that the 
    service has been transferred to, and the required payment 
    received by, the Article 4 fund  in accordance with Section 
    3-110.12 of this Code. 
(Source: P.A. 97-651, eff. 1-5-12.)

 
    (40 ILCS 5/4-108.6)
    Sec. 4-108.6. Transfer of creditable service to  the 
Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. 
    (a) Until 6 months after the effective date of this 
amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, January 1, 2010, 
any active member of the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of 
Chicago may apply for transfer of up to 10 years of creditable 
service accumulated in any pension fund established under this 
Article to the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. 
Such creditable service shall be transferred only upon payment 
by such pension fund to the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund 
of Chicago of an amount equal to:
        (1) the amounts accumulated to the credit of the 
    applicant on the books of the fund on the date of transfer;
        (2) employer contributions in an amount equal to the 
    amount determined under subparagraph (1); and
        (3) any interest paid by the applicant in order to 
    reinstate service.
    Participation in such pension fund as to any credits 
transferred under this Section shall terminate on the date of 
transfer.
    (b) An active member of the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit 
Fund of Chicago applying for a transfer of creditable service 
under subsection (a) may reinstate credits and creditable 
service terminated upon receipt of a refund by payment to the 
Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago of the amount of 
the refund with interest thereon at the actuarially assumed 
rate, compounded annually, from the date of the refund to the 
date of payment. 

(Source: P.A. 96-727, eff. 8-25-09.)
 
    (40 ILCS 5/6-227)
    Sec. 6-227. Transfer of creditable service from Article 4. 
Until 6 months after the effective date of this amendatory Act 
of the 100th General Assembly, January 1, 2010, any active 
member of the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago may 
transfer to the Fund up to a total of 10 years of creditable 
service accumulated under Article 4 of this Code upon payment 
to the Fund within 5 years after the date of application of an 
amount equal to the difference between the amount of employee 
and employer contributions transferred to the Fund under 
Section 4-108.6 and the amounts determined by the Fund in 
accordance with this Section, plus interest on that difference 
at the actuarially assumed rate, compounded annually, from the 
date of service to the date of payment.
    The Fund must determine the fireman's payment required to 
establish creditable service under this Section by taking into 
account the appropriate actuarial assumptions, including 
without limitation the fireman's service, age, and salary 
history; the level of funding of the Fund; and any other 
factors that the Fund determines to be relevant. For this 
purpose, the fireman's required payment should result in no 
significant increase to the Fund's unfunded actuarial accrued 
liability determined as of the most recent actuarial valuation, 
based on the same assumptions and methods used to develop and 
report the Fund's actuarial accrued liability and actuarial 
value of assets under Statement No. 25 of Governmental 
Accounting Standards Board or any subsequent applicable 
Statement.

(Source: P.A. 96-727, eff. 8-25-09.)
 
    Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding 
Section 8.41 as follows:
 
    (30 ILCS 805/8.41 new)
    Sec. 8.41. 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 100th General Assembly.
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.