40 ILCS 5/ Illinois Pension Code.

(40 ILCS 5/13-314) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-314)

Sec. 13-314. Alternative provisions for Water Reclamation District commissioners.

(a) Transfer of credits. Any Water Reclamation District commissioner elected by vote of the people and who has elected to participate in this Fund may transfer to this Fund credits and creditable service accumulated under any other pension fund or retirement system established under Articles 2 through 18 of this Code, upon payment to the Fund of (1) the amount by which the employer and employee contributions that would have been required if he had participated in this Fund during the period for which credit is being transferred, plus interest, exceeds the amounts actually transferred from such other fund or system to this Fund, plus (2) interest thereon at 6% per year compounded annually from the date of transfer to the date of payment.

(b) Alternative annuity. Any participant commissioner may elect to establish alternative credits for an alternative annuity by electing in writing to make additional optional contributions in accordance with this Section and procedures established by the Board. Unless and until such time as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the federal courts provide a favorable ruling as described in Section 13-502(f), a commissioner may discontinue making the additional optional contributions by notifying the Fund in writing in accordance with this Section and procedures established by the Board.

Additional optional contributions for the alternative annuity shall be as follows:

(1) For service after the option is elected, an additional contribution of 3% of salary shall be contributed to the Fund on the same basis and under the same conditions as contributions required under Section 13-502.

(2) For contributions on past service, the additional contribution shall be 3% of the salary for the applicable period of service, plus interest at the annual rate from time to time as determined by the Board, compounded annually from the date of service to the date of payment. Contributions for service before the option is elected may be made in a lump sum payment to the Fund or by contributing to the Fund on the same basis and under the same conditions as contributions required under Section 13-502. All payments for past service must be paid in full before credit is given. No additional optional contributions may be made for any period of service for which credit has been previously forfeited by acceptance of a refund, unless the refund is repaid in full with interest at the rate specified in Section 13-603, from the date of refund to the date of repayment.

In lieu of the retirement annuity otherwise payable under this Article, any commissioner who has elected to participate in the Fund and make additional optional contributions in accordance with this Section, has attained age 55, and has at least 6 years of service credit, may elect to have the retirement annuity computed as follows: 3% of the participant's average final salary as a commissioner for each of the first 8 years of service credit, plus 4% of such salary for each of the next 4 years of service credit, plus 5% of such salary for each year of service credit in excess of 12 years, subject to a maximum of 80% of such salary. To the extent such commissioner has made additional optional contributions with respect to only a portion of years of service credit, the retirement annuity will first be determined in accordance with this Section to the extent such additional optional contributions were made, and then in accordance with the remaining Sections of this Article to the extent of years of service credit with respect to which additional optional contributions were not made. The change in minimum retirement age (from 60 to 55) made by Public Act 87-1265 applies to persons who begin receiving a retirement annuity under this Section on or after January 25, 1993 (the effective date of Public Act 87-1265), without regard to whether they are in service on or after that date.

(c) Disability benefits. In lieu of the disability benefits otherwise payable under this Article, any commissioner who (1) has elected to participate in the Fund, and (2) has become permanently disabled and as a consequence is unable to perform the duties of office, and (3) was making optional contributions in accordance with this Section at the time the disability was incurred, may elect to receive a disability annuity calculated in accordance with the formula in subsection (b). For the purposes of this subsection, such commissioner shall be considered permanently disabled only if: (i) disability occurs while in service as a commissioner and is of such a nature as to prevent the reasonable performance of the duties of office at the time; and (ii) the Board has received a written certification by at least 2 licensed health care professionals appointed by it stating that such commissioner is disabled and that the disability is likely to be permanent.

(d) Alternative survivor's benefits. In lieu of the survivor's benefits otherwise payable under this Article, the spouse or eligible child of any deceased commissioner who (1) had elected to participate in the Fund, and (2) was either making (or had already made) additional optional contributions on the date of death, or was receiving an annuity calculated under this Section at the time of death, may elect to receive an annuity beginning on the date of the commissioner's death, provided that the spouse and commissioner must have been married on the date of the last termination of a service as commissioner and for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding death.

The annuity shall be payable beginning on the date of the commissioner's death if the spouse is then age 50 or over, or beginning at age 50 if the age of the spouse is less than 50 years. If a minor unmarried child or children of the commissioner, under age 18 (age 23 in the case of a full-time student), also survive, and the child or children are under the care of the eligible spouse, the annuity shall begin as of the date of death of the commissioner without regard to the spouse's age. Beginning on the first day of the month following the month in which this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly takes effect, benefits shall begin on the first of the month following the commissioner's date of death if the spouse is then age 50 or over or, if a minor unmarried child or children of the commissioner, under age 18 (age 23 in the case of a full time student), also survive, and the child or children are under the care of the eligible spouse. The benefit is payable for the full month if the annuitant was alive on the first day of the month.

The annuity to a spouse shall be the greater of (i) 66 2/3% of the amount of retirement annuity earned by the commissioner on the date of death, subject to a minimum payment of 10% of salary, provided that if an eligible spouse, regardless of age, has in his or her care at the date of death of the commissioner any unmarried child or children of the commissioner under age 18, the minimum annuity shall be 30% of the commissioner's salary, plus 10% of salary on account of each minor child of the commissioner, subject to a combined total payment on account of a spouse and minor children not to exceed 50% of the deceased commissioner's salary or (ii) for the spouse of a commissioner whose death occurs on or after August 18, 2005 (the effective date of Public Act 94-621), the surviving spouse annuity shall be computed in the same manner as described in Section 13-306(a). The number of total service years used to calculate the commissioner's annuity shall be the number of service years used to calculate the annuity for that commissioner's surviving spouse. In the event there shall be no spouse of the commissioner surviving, or should a spouse die while eligible minor children still survive the commissioner, each such child shall be entitled to an annuity equal to 20% of salary of the commissioner subject to a combined total payment on account of all such children not to exceed 50% of salary of the commissioner. The salary to be used in the calculation of these benefits shall be the same as that prescribed for determining a retirement annuity as provided in subsection (b) of this Section.

Upon the death of a commissioner occurring after termination of a service or while in receipt of a retirement annuity, the combined total payment to a spouse and minor children, or to minor children alone if no eligible spouse survives, shall be limited to 85% of the amount of retirement annuity earned by the commissioner.

Marriage of a child or attainment of age 18 (age 23 in the case of a full-time student), whichever first occurs, shall render the child ineligible for further consideration in the payment of annuity to a spouse or in the increase in the amount thereof. Upon attainment of ineligibility of the youngest minor child of the commissioner, the annuity shall immediately revert to the amount payable upon death of a commissioner leaving no minor children surviving. If the spouse is under age 50 at such time, the annuity as revised shall be deferred until such age is attained.

(e) Refunds. Refunds of additional optional contributions shall be made on the same basis and under the same conditions as provided under Section 13-601. Interest shall be credited on the same basis and under the same conditions as for other contributions.

Optional contributions shall be accounted for in a separate Commission's Optional Contribution Reserve. Optional contributions under this Section shall be included in the amount of employee contributions used to compute the tax levy under Section 13-503.

(f) Effective date. The effective date of this plan of optional alternative benefits and contributions shall be the date upon which approval was received from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The plan of optional alternative benefits and contributions shall not be available to any former employee receiving an annuity from the Fund on the effective date, unless said former employee re-enters service and renders at least 3 years of additional service after the date of re-entry as a commissioner.

(Source: P.A. 103-523, eff. 1-1-24.)

(40 ILCS 5/13-315) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-315)

Sec. 13-315. Waiver of annuity. Any competent employee annuitant or surviving spouse annuitant may execute a waiver of the right to receive any part of the total annuity. The waiver shall be effective when filed with the Board. A waiver once filed may not be revoked, except within the first 30 days after being filed.

(Source: P.A. 87-794.)

(40 ILCS 5/Art. 13 Pt. IV heading) Part IV. Computation of Service.

(40 ILCS 5/13-401) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-401)

Sec. 13-401. Term of service.

(a) In computing the term of service, the following periods of time shall be counted as periods of service for annuity purposes only:

(1) the time during which the employee performs services required by the Employer.

(2) approved vacations or leaves of absence with whole or part pay.

(3) any period for which the employee receives a disability benefit payable under this Article.

(4) leaves of absence for military service as provided in Section 13-403(a), and military service as provided in Section 13-403(b).

(b) In computing the term of service for the ordinary disability benefit, the following periods of time shall be counted as periods of service:

(1) the time during which the employee performs services required by the Employer.

(2) approved vacations or leaves of absence with whole or part pay.

(3) any period for which the employee receives a duty disability benefit under this Article.

(c) Any employee who first enters service before the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997 may, during any period of approved leave of absence without pay, continue to make contributions for the retirement and surviving spouse's annuities for a total period not to exceed one year during the employee's entire aggregate service with the Employer. Upon making these contributions, the employee shall receive credit in terms of length of service for the retirement and surviving spouse's annuities. Concurrent Employer's contributions shall be provided by the District.

(d) An employee may establish credit for periods of approved leave of absence without pay, not to exceed a total of one year during the employee's aggregate service with the employer. To establish this credit, the employee must either continue to remain on approved leave of absence, return to service with the employer, or in the case of an employee who first enters service on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997, return to service with the employer for at least one calendar year. The employee must pay to the Fund the corresponding employee contributions, plus interest at the annual rate from time to time determined by the Board, compounded annually from the date of service to the date of payment. The corresponding employer contributions shall be provided by the District. Upon making the required contributions, the employee shall receive credit in terms of length of service for the retirement and surviving spouse's annuity in proportion to the number of pay periods or portion thereof for which contributions were made relative to 26 pay periods.

(e) Overtime or extra service shall not be included in computing any service. Not more than one year of service credit shall be allowed for service rendered during any calendar year.

(Source: P.A. 93-334, eff. 7-24-03.)

(40 ILCS 5/13-402) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-402)

Sec. 13-402. Length of service. For the purpose of computing the length of service for the retirement annuity, surviving spouse's annuity, and child's annuity, and calculating the minimum service requirement for payment of military service under subsection (b) of Section 13-403, service of 120 days in any one calendar year shall constitute one year of service and service for any fractional part thereof shall constitute an equal fractional part of one year of service unless specifically provided otherwise. For all other purposes under this Article, including but not limited to the optional plans of additional benefits and contributions provided under Sections 13-304, 13-304.1, and 13-314 of this Article, 26 pay periods of service during any 12 consecutive months shall constitute a year of service, and service rendered for 50% or more of a single pay period shall constitute service for the full pay period. Service of less than 50% of a single pay period shall not be counted.

(Source: P.A. 93-334, eff. 7-24-03; 94-621, eff. 8-18-05.)

(40 ILCS 5/13-403) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-403)

Sec. 13-403. Military service.

(a) Any employee who, after commencement of service with the Employer, enlisted, was inducted or was otherwise ordered to serve in the military forces of the United States pursuant to any law, shall receive full service credit for the various purposes of this Article as though the employee were in the active service of the Employer during the period of military service provided that:

(1) such service credit shall be granted for military service for which the employee volunteers or is inducted or called into military service pursuant to a call of a duly constituted authority or a law of the United States declaring a national emergency;

(2) the employee returns to the employ of the Employer within 90 days after the termination of the national emergency; and

(3) the total service credit for such military service shall not exceed 5 years except that any employee who on July 1, 1963 had accrued more than 5 years of such credit shall be entitled to the total amount thereof.

(b) For a ten-year period following July 24, 2003, a contributing employee or commissioner meeting the minimum service requirements provided under this subsection may establish additional service credit for a period of up to 2 years of active military service in the United States Armed Forces for which he or she does not qualify for credit under subsection (a), provided that (1) the person was not dishonorably discharged from the military service, and (2) the amount of service credit established by the person under this subsection (b), when added to the amount of any military service credit granted to the person under subsection (a), shall not exceed 5 years.

The minimum service requirement for a contributing employee is 10 years of service credit as provided in Sections 13-401 and 13-402 of this Article and exclusive of Article 20. The minimum service requirement for a contributing commissioner is 5 years of service credit as provided in Sections 13-401 and 13-402 of this Article and exclusive of Article 20.

In order to establish military service credit under this subsection (b), the applicant must submit a written application to the Fund, including the applicant's discharge papers from military service, and pay to the Fund (i) employee contributions at the rates provided in this Article, based upon the person's salary on the last date as a participating employee prior to the military service or on the first date as a participating employee after the military service, whichever is greater, plus (ii) the current amount determined by the board to be equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefits accrued for such military service, plus (iii) regular interest of 3% compounded annually on items (i) and (ii) from the date of entry or re-entry as a participating employee following the military service to the date of payment. Contributions must be paid in full before the credit is granted. Credit established under this subsection may be used for pension purposes only.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a person may not establish creditable service under this Section for any period for which the person receives credit under any other public employee retirement system, unless the credit under that other retirement system has been irrevocably relinquished.

(Source: P.A. 93-334, eff. 7-24-03; 94-621, eff. 8-18-05.)

(40 ILCS 5/Art. 13 Pt. V heading) Part V. Contributions and Tax Levy

(40 ILCS 5/13-501) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-501)

Sec. 13-501. Contributions computed on actuarially funded basis. The obligations of the various annuities and benefits provided by this Article shall be financed by contributions by employees, contributions by the Water Reclamation District, income from investments and other income that may accrue to the Fund during the course of its operations. The amount to be contributed by the District for any calendar year shall be computed on an actuarially funded basis and shall be equal to the sum of the following:

(1) For retirement and surviving spouse's annuities and annual increases therefore, and child's annuities, the amount determined by the Retirement Board upon recommendation of the actuary which, when added to the amounts held by the Fund to cover liabilities for such annuities and annual increases, shall be equal to the present value, according to actuarial tables in use by the Fund, of the aggregate liability of the Fund with respect to such annuities and annual increases credited or to be credited on account of service rendered or to be rendered to the end of such calendar year, after applying as a credit against such liability the accumulated employee contributions for such service.

(2) For the current annual cash requirements covering administration expense, duty disability benefits and ordinary disability benefits, the amounts to be contributed by the District shall be equal to the actual payments by the Fund for these purposes.

The District contributions provided in this Section shall be allocated for the purposes for which contributions have been made, and credited to appropriate reserve accounts established by the Board.

(Source: P.A. 87-794.)

(40 ILCS 5/13-502) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-502)

Sec. 13-502. Employee contributions; deductions from salary.

(a) Retirement annuity and child's annuity. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, there shall be deducted from each payment of salary an amount equal to 7% of salary as the employee's contribution for the retirement annuity, including child's annuity, and 0.5% of salary as the employee's contribution for annual increases to the retirement annuity.

(a-1) For employees who first became a member or participant before January 1, 2011 under any reciprocal retirement system or pension fund established under this Code other than a retirement system or pension fund established under Article 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 18 of this Code:

(1) beginning with the first pay period paid on or after January 1, 2013 and ending with the last pay period paid on or before December 31, 2013, employee contributions shall be 7.5% for the retirement annuity and 1.0% for annual increases for a total of 8.5%;

(2) beginning with the first pay period paid on or after January 1, 2014 and ending with the last pay period paid on or before December 31, 2014, employee contributions shall be 8.0% for the retirement annuity and 1.5% for annual increases for a total of 9.5%;

(3) beginning with the first pay period paid on or after January 1, 2015 and ending with the last pay period paid on or before the date when the funded ratio of the Fund is first determined to have reached the 90% funding goal, employee contributions shall be 8.5% for the retirement annuity and 1.5% for annual increases for a total of 10.0%; and

(4) beginning with the first pay period paid on or after the date when the funded ratio of the Fund is first determined to have reached the 90% funding goal, and each pay period paid thereafter, employee contributions shall be 7.0% for the retirement annuity and 0.5% for annual increases for a total of 7.5%.

(b) Surviving spouse's annuity. There shall be deducted from each payment of salary an amount equal to 1 1/2% of salary as the employee's contribution for the surviving spouse's annuity and annual increases therefor. For employees that first became a member or a participant before January 1, 2011 under any reciprocal retirement system or pension fund established under this Code other than a retirement system or pension fund established under Article 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 18 of this Code, beginning with the first pay period paid on or after January 1, 2015 and ending with the last pay period paid on or before the date when the funded ratio of the Fund is first determined to have reached the 90% funding goal, there shall be deducted an additional 0.5% of salary for a total of 2.0% for the surviving spouse's annuity and annual increases.

(c) Pickup of employee contributions. The Employer may pick up employee contributions required under subsections (a) and (b) of this Section. If contributions are picked up they shall be treated as Employer contributions in determining tax treatment under the United States Internal Revenue Code, and shall not be included as gross income of the employee until such time as they are distributed. The Employer shall pay these employee contributions from the same source of funds used in paying salary to the employee. The Employer may pick up these contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the employee or by an offset against a future salary increase or by a combination of a reduction in salary and offset against a future salary increase. If employee contributions are picked up they shall be treated for all purposes of this Article 13, including Sections 13-503 and 13-601, in the same manner and to the same extent as employee contributions made prior to the date picked up.

(d) Subject to the requirements of federal law, the Employer shall pick up optional contributions that the employee has elected to pay to the Fund under Section 13-304.1, and the contributions so picked up shall be treated as employer contributions for the purposes of determining federal tax treatment. The Employer shall pick up the contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the employee and shall pay the contributions from the same fund that is used to pay earnings to the employee. The Employer shall, however, continue to withhold federal and State income taxes based upon contributions made under Section 13-304.1 until the Internal Revenue Service or the federal courts rule that pursuant to Section 414(h) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, these contributions shall not be included as gross income of the employee until such time as they are distributed or made available.

(e) Each employee is deemed to consent and agree to the deductions from compensation provided for in this Article.

(f) Subject to the requirements of federal law, the Employer shall pick up contributions that a commissioner has elected to pay to the Fund under Section 13-314, and the contributions so picked up shall be treated as Employer contributions for the purposes of determining federal tax treatment. The Employer shall pick up the contributions by a reduction in the cash salary of the commissioner and shall pay the contributions from the same fund as is used to pay earnings to the commissioner. The Employer shall, however, continue to withhold federal and State income taxes based upon contributions made under Section 13-314 until the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or the federal courts rule that pursuant to Section 414(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, these contributions shall not be included as gross income of the employee until such time as they are distributed or made available.

(Source: P.A. 97-894, eff. 8-3-12.)

(40 ILCS 5/13-503) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 13-503)

Sec. 13-503. Tax levy. Until fiscal year 2013, the Water Reclamation District shall annually levy a tax upon all the taxable real property within the District at a rate which, when extended, will produce a sum that (i) when added to the amounts deducted from the salaries of employees, interest income on investments, and other income, will be sufficient to meet the requirements of the Fund on an actuarially funded basis, but (ii) shall not exceed an amount equal to the total amount of contributions by the employees to the Fund made in the calendar year 2 years prior to the year for which the tax is levied, multiplied by 2.19, except that the amount of employee contributions made on or after January 1, 2003 towards the purchase of additional optional benefits under Section 13-304.1 shall only be multiplied by 1.00.

Beginning in fiscal year 2013, the District shall annually levy a tax upon all the taxable real property within the District at a rate which, when extended, will produce a sum that (i) will be sufficient to meet the Fund's actuarially determined contribution requirement, but (ii) shall not exceed an amount equal to the total employee contributions 2 years prior multiplied by 4.19. The actuarially determined contribution requirement is equal to the employer's normal cost plus the annual amount needed to amortize the unfunded liability by the year 2050 as a level percent of payroll. The funding goal is to attain a funded ratio of 100% by the year 2050, with the funded ratio being the ratio of the actuarial value of assets to the total actuarial liability.

The tax shall be levied and collected in the same manner as the general taxes of the District.

The tax shall be exclusive of and in addition to the amount of tax the District is now or may hereafter be authorized to levy for general purposes under the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act or under any other laws which may limit the amount of tax for general purposes. The county clerk of any county, in reducing tax levies as may be authorized by law, shall not consider any such tax as a part of the general tax levy for District purposes, and shall not include the same in any limitation of the percent of the assessed valuation upon which taxes are required to be extended.

Revenues derived from the tax shall be paid to the Fund for the benefit of the Fund, except for the amount of revenue to be retained by the District and used to pay principal and interest on bonds issued for the sole purpose of making contributions to the Fund as set forth in Section 9.6a of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act.

If the funds available for the purposes of this Article are insufficient during any year to meet the requirements of this Article, the District may issue tax anticipation warrants or notes, as provided by law, against the current tax levy.

The Board shall submit annually to the Board of Commissioners of the District an estimate of the amount required to be raised by taxation for the purposes of the Fund. The Board of Commissioners shall review the estimate and determine the tax to be levied for such purposes.

(Source: P.A. 102-707, eff. 4-22-22.)

(40 ILCS 5/13-503.5)

Sec. 13-503.5. Delinquent contributions; deduction from payments of State funds to the employer. If the employer fails to transmit to the Fund contributions required of it under this Article by December 31st of the year in which such contributions are due, the Fund may, after giving notice to the employer, certify to the State Comptroller the amounts of the delinquent payments in accordance with any applicable rules of the Comptroller, and the Comptroller must, beginning in payment year 2016, deduct and remit to the Fund the certified amounts from payments of State funds to the employer.

The State Comptroller may not deduct from any payments of State funds to the employer more than the amount of delinquent payments certified to the State Comptroller by the Fund.

(Source: P.A. 99-8, eff. 7-9-15.)