Bill Text: IL HB0618 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Pension Code. Authorizes an active member of a downstate firefighters' pension fund to transfer up to 6 years of creditable service to that fund from the downstate police pension fund that is administered by the same unit of local government. Requires application within 6 months after the effective date. Authorizes reinstatement of service that was terminated by a refund. Provides that if the transferred police service was Tier 1, then the firefighter shall be considered to be a Tier 1 firefighter. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-3)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB0618 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB0618-Engrossed.html

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HB0618 Engrossed LRB100 06100 RPS 16132 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 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

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(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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.)
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.