|
paid to the
employees who participate in the early |
retirement program.
|
It is the primary purpose of this Section to encourage |
units of local
government that can realize true cost savings, |
or have determined that an early
retirement program is in their |
best interest, to implement an early retirement
program.
|
(b) Until the effective date of this amendatory Act of |
1997, this
Section does not apply to any employer that is a |
city, village, or incorporated
town, nor to the employees of |
any such employer. Beginning on the effective
date of this |
amendatory Act of 1997, any employer under this Article, |
including
an employer that is a city, village, or incorporated |
town, may establish an
early retirement incentive program for |
its employees under this Section. The
decision of a city, |
village, or incorporated town to consider or establish an
early |
retirement program is at the sole discretion of that city, |
village, or
incorporated town, and nothing in this amendatory |
Act of 1997 limits or
otherwise diminishes this discretion. |
Nothing contained in this Section shall
be construed to require |
a city, village, or incorporated town to establish an
early |
retirement program and no city, village, or incorporated town |
may be
compelled to implement such a program.
|
The benefits provided in this Section are available only to |
members
employed by a participating employer that has filed |
with the Board of the
Fund a resolution or ordinance expressly |
providing for the creation of an
early retirement incentive |
program under this Section for its employees and
specifying the |
effective date of the early retirement incentive program.
|
Subject to the limitation in subsection (h), an employer may |
adopt a resolution
or ordinance providing a program of early |
retirement incentives under this
Section at any time.
|
The resolution or ordinance shall be in substantially the |
following form:
|
RESOLUTION (ORDINANCE) NO. ....
|
A RESOLUTION (ORDINANCE) ADOPTING AN EARLY
|
|
RETIREMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYEES
|
IN THE ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT FUND
|
WHEREAS, Section 7-141.1 of the Illinois Pension Code |
provides that a
participating employer may elect to adopt an |
early retirement
incentive program offered by the Illinois |
Municipal Retirement Fund by
adopting a resolution or |
ordinance; and
|
WHEREAS, The goal of adopting an early retirement program |
is
to realize a substantial savings in personnel costs by |
offering early
retirement incentives to employees who have |
accumulated many years of
service credit; and
|
WHEREAS, Implementation of the early retirement program |
will provide a
budgeting tool to aid in controlling payroll |
costs; and
|
WHEREAS, The (name of governing body) has determined that |
the adoption of an
early retirement incentive program is in the |
best interests of the (name of
participating employer); |
therefore be it
|
RESOLVED (ORDAINED) by the (name of governing body) of |
(name of
participating employer) that:
|
(1) The (name of participating employer) does hereby adopt |
the Illinois
Municipal Retirement Fund early retirement |
incentive program as provided in
Section 7-141.1 of the |
Illinois Pension Code. The early retirement incentive
program |
shall take effect on (date).
|
(2) In order to help achieve a true cost savings, a person |
who retires under
the early retirement incentive program shall |
lose those incentives if he or she
later accepts employment |
with any IMRF employer in a position for which
participation in |
IMRF is required or is elected by the employee.
|
(3) In order to utilize an early retirement incentive as a |
budgeting
tool, the (name of participating employer) will use |
its best efforts either
to limit the number of employees who |
replace the employees who retire under
the early retirement |
program or to limit the salaries paid to the employees who
|
replace the employees who retire under the early retirement |
|
program.
|
(4) The effective date of each employee's retirement under |
this early
retirement program shall be set by (name of |
employer) and shall be no
earlier than the effective date of |
the program and no later than one year after
that effective |
date; except that the employee may require that the retirement
|
date set by the employer be no later than the June 30 next |
occurring after the
effective date of the program and no |
earlier than the date upon which the
employee qualifies for |
retirement.
|
(5) To be eligible for the early retirement incentive under |
this Section,
the employee must have attained age 50 and have |
at least 20 years of creditable
service by his or her |
retirement date.
|
(6) The (clerk or secretary) shall promptly file a |
certified copy of
this resolution (ordinance) with the Board of |
Trustees of the Illinois
Municipal Retirement Fund.
|
CERTIFICATION
|
I, (name), the (clerk or secretary) of the (name of |
participating
employer) of the County of (name), State of |
Illinois, do hereby certify
that I am the keeper of the books |
and records of the (name of employer)
and that the foregoing is |
a true and correct copy of a resolution
(ordinance) duly |
adopted by the (governing body) at a meeting duly convened
and |
held on (date).
|
SEAL
|
(Signature of clerk or secretary)
|
(c) To be eligible for the benefits provided under an early |
retirement
incentive program adopted under this Section, a |
member must:
|
(1) be a participating employee of this Fund who, on |
the effective date of
the program, (i) is in active payroll |
status as an employee of a participating
employer that has |
filed the required ordinance or resolution with the Board,
|
(ii) is on layoff status from such a position with a right |
|
of re-employment or
recall to service, (iii) is on a leave |
of absence from such a position, or (iv)
is on disability |
but has not been receiving benefits under Section 7-146 or
|
7-150 for a period of more than 2 years from the date of |
application;
|
(2) have never previously received a retirement |
annuity under
this Article or under the Retirement Systems |
Reciprocal Act using service
credit established under this |
Article;
|
(3) (blank);
|
(4) have at least 20 years of creditable service in the |
Fund by the date
of retirement, without the use of any |
creditable service established under this
Section;
|
(5) have attained age 50 by the date of retirement, |
without the use of any
age enhancement received under this |
Section; and
|
(6) be eligible to receive a retirement annuity under |
this Article by the
date of retirement, for which purpose |
the age enhancement and creditable
service established |
under this Section may be considered.
|
(d) The employer shall determine the retirement date for |
each employee
participating in the early retirement program |
adopted under this Section. The
retirement date shall be no |
earlier than the effective date of the program and
no later |
than one year after that effective date, except that the |
employee may
require that the retirement date set by the |
employer be no later than the June
30 next occurring after the |
effective date of the program and no earlier than
the date upon |
which the employee qualifies for retirement. The employer shall
|
give each employee participating in the early retirement |
program at least 30
days written notice of the employee's |
designated retirement date, unless the
employee waives this |
notice requirement.
|
(e) An eligible person may establish up to 5 years of |
creditable service
under this Section. In addition, for each |
period of creditable service
established under this Section, a |
|
person shall have his or her age at
retirement deemed enhanced |
by an equivalent period.
|
The creditable service established under this Section may |
be used for all
purposes under this Article and the Retirement |
Systems Reciprocal Act,
except for the computation of final |
rate of earnings and the determination
of earnings, salary, or |
compensation under this or any other Article of the
Code.
|
The age enhancement established under this Section may be |
used for all
purposes under this Article (including calculation |
of the reduction imposed
under subdivision (a)1b(iv) of Section |
7-142), except for purposes of a
reversionary annuity under |
Section 7-145 and any distributions required because
of age. |
The age enhancement established under this Section may be used |
in
calculating a proportionate annuity payable by this Fund |
under the Retirement
Systems Reciprocal Act, but shall not be |
used in determining benefits payable
under other Articles of |
this Code under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act.
|
(f) For all creditable service established under this |
Section, the
member must pay to the Fund an employee |
contribution consisting of 4.5%
of the member's highest annual |
salary rate used in the determination of the
final rate of |
earnings for retirement annuity purposes for each year of
|
creditable service granted under this Section. For creditable |
service
established under this Section by a person who is a |
sheriff's law
enforcement employee to be deemed service as a |
sheriff's law enforcement
employee, the employee contribution |
shall be at the rate of 6.5%
of highest annual salary per year |
of creditable service granted.
Contributions for fractions of a |
year of service shall be prorated.
Any amounts that are |
disregarded in determining the final rate of earnings
under |
subdivision (d)(5) of Section 7-116 (the 125% rule) shall also |
be
disregarded in determining the required contribution under |
this subsection (f).
|
The employee contribution shall be paid to the Fund as |
follows: If the
member is entitled to a lump sum payment for |
accumulated vacation, sick leave,
or personal leave upon |
|
withdrawal from service, the employer shall deduct the
employee |
contribution from that lump sum and pay the deducted amount |
directly
to the Fund. If there is no such lump sum payment or |
the required employee
contribution exceeds the net amount of |
the lump sum payment, then the remaining
amount due, at the |
option of the employee, may either be paid to the Fund
before |
the annuity commences or deducted from the retirement annuity |
in 24
equal monthly installments.
|
(g) An annuitant who has received any age enhancement or |
creditable service
under this Section and thereafter accepts |
employment with or enters into a
personal services contract |
with an employer under this Article thereby forfeits
that age |
enhancement and creditable service; except that this |
restriction
does not apply to service in an elective office, so |
long as the annuitant
does not participate in this Fund with |
respect to that office. A person
forfeiting early retirement |
incentives under this subsection (i) must repay to
the Fund |
that portion of the retirement annuity already received which |
is
attributable to the early retirement incentives that are |
being forfeited, (ii)
shall not be eligible to participate in |
any future early retirement program
adopted under this Section, |
and (iii) is entitled to a refund of the employee
contribution |
paid under subsection (f). The Board shall deduct the required
|
repayment from the refund and may impose a reasonable payment |
schedule for
repaying the amount, if any, by which the required |
repayment exceeds the refund
amount.
|
(h) The additional unfunded liability accruing as a result |
of the adoption
of a program of early retirement incentives |
under this Section by an employer
shall be amortized over a |
period of 10 years beginning on January 1 of the
second |
calendar year following the calendar year in which the latest |
date for
beginning to receive a retirement annuity under the |
program (as determined by
the employer under subsection (d) of |
this Section) occurs; except that the
employer may provide for |
a shorter amortization period (of no less than 5
years) by |
adopting an ordinance or resolution specifying the length of |
|
the
amortization period and submitting a certified copy of the |
ordinance or
resolution to the Fund no later than 6 months |
after the effective date of the
program. An employer, at its |
discretion, may accelerate payments to the Fund.
|
An employer may provide more than one early retirement |
incentive program
for its employees under this Section. |
However, an employer that has provided
an early retirement |
incentive program for its employees under this Section may
not |
provide another early retirement incentive program under this |
Section until the liability arising from the earlier program |
has been fully paid to
the Fund.
|
(Source: P.A. 90-32, eff. 6-27-97; 91-887, eff. 7-6-00.)
|
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law. |