State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
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90_HB0657

      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  to  allow  firefighters  to  obtain  service credit for
      periods spent on duty or occupational  disability  by  paying
      employee   contributions  to  the  fund.   Amends  the  State
      Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.
      Effective immediately.
                                                     LRB9000406EGfg
                                               LRB9000406EGfg
 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
                            -2-                LRB9000406EGfg
 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             (2)  Service  prior to July 1, 1976 by a firefighter
11        initially excluded from participation by  reason  of  age
12        who   elected   to  participate  and  paid  the  required
13        contributions for such service.
14             (3)  Up to 8 years of service by a firefighter as an
15        officer in a statewide firefighters' association when  he
16        is  on  a leave of absence from a municipality's payroll,
17        provided that (i) the firefighter has at least  10  years
18        of  creditable service as an active firefighter, (ii) the
19        firefighter contributes to the fund the  amount  that  he
20        would  have  contributed had he remained an active member
21        of  the  fund,  and  (iii)  the  employee  or   statewide
22        firefighter association contributes to the fund an amount
23        equal   to   the   employer's  required  contribution  as
24        determined by the board.
25             (4)  Time  spent  as  an  on-call  fireman   for   a
26        municipality,  calculated  at  the  rate  of  one year of
27        creditable service for each 5 years of time spent  as  an
28        on-call fireman, provided that (i) the firefighter has at
29        least  18  years  of  creditable  service  as  an  active
30        firefighter, (ii) the firefighter spent at least 14 years
31        as an on-call firefighter for the municipality, (iii) the
32        firefighter applies for such creditable service within 30
33        days  after  the effective date of this amendatory Act of
34        1989, (iv) the firefighter contributes to  the   Fund  an
                            -3-                LRB9000406EGfg
 1        amount representing employee contributions for the number
 2        of   years  of  creditable  service  granted  under  this
 3        subdivision (4), based on  the  salary  and  contribution
 4        rate  in  effect for the firefighter at the date of entry
 5        into the Fund, to be determined by the board, and (v) not
 6        more than 3 years of creditable service  may  be  granted
 7        under this subdivision (4).
 8             Creditable   service   shall  not  under  any  other
 9        circumstances  include  time   spent   as   a   volunteer
10        firefighter, whether or not any compensation was received
11        therefor.  The  change made in this Section by Public Act
12        83-0463 is intended to be a restatement and clarification
13        of existing law,  and  does  not  imply  that  creditable
14        service  was  previously  allowed  under this Article for
15        time spent as a volunteer firefighter.
16             (5)  Time served between July 1, 1976  and  July  1,
17        1988  in the position of protective inspection officer or
18        administrative  assistant  for  fire  services,   for   a
19        municipality  with  a  population  under  10,000  that is
20        located in a county with a population over 3,000,000  and
21        that  maintains  a  firefighters' pension fund under this
22        Article, if the position  included  firefighting  duties,
23        notwithstanding  that  the  person  may  not have held an
24        appointment as a firefighter, provided  that  application
25        is  made  to  the  pension  fund within 30 days after the
26        effective date of this amendatory Act of  1991,  and  the
27        corresponding  contributions  are  paid for the number of
28        years of service  granted,  based  upon  the  salary  and
29        contribution  rate  in  effect for the firefighter at the
30        date of entry into the pension fund, as determined by the
31        Board.
32             (6)  Service before  becoming  a  participant  by  a
33        firefighter  initially  excluded  from  participation  by
34        reason  of  age  who  becomes  a  participant  under  the
                            -4-                LRB9000406EGfg
 1        amendment to Section 4-107 made by this amendatory Act of
 2        1993   and  pays  the  required  contributions  for  such
 3        service.
 4             (7)  Time during which the  firefighter  receives  a
 5        disability  pension  under  Section 4-110 or 4-110.1, for
 6        which the firefighter elects to make contributions to the
 7        fund based on the rates specified in Section 4-118.1  and
 8        the  salary  upon  which the disability pension is based.
 9        For periods of disability on or after the effective  date
10        of  this amendatory Act of 1997 for which the firefighter
11        elects to make contributions, the contributions shall  be
12        deducted  from  the  disability  pension.  For periods of
13        disability before the effective date of  this  amendatory
14        Act  of  1997  for  which  the firefighter elects to make
15        contributions, the contributions shall  include  interest
16        at the rate of 6% per year, compounded annually, from the
17        date for which service credit is being established to the
18        date  of  payment  and  may  be paid in installments on a
19        schedule approved by the board.  This subdivision  (c)(7)
20        applies  to  persons receiving a disability pension under
21        Section 4-110 or 4-110.1 on the effective  date  of  this
22        amendatory  Act  of 1997, as well as persons who begin to
23        receive such a disability pension after that date.
24    (Source: P.A. 89-52, eff. 6-30-95.)
25        Section 90.  The State Mandates Act is amended by  adding
26    Section 8.21 as follows:
27        (30 ILCS 805/8.21 new)
28        Sec.  8.21.  Exempt  mandate.  Notwithstanding Sections 6
29    and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is  required
30    for  the  implementation  of  any  mandate  created  by  this
31    amendatory Act of 1997.
                            -5-                LRB9000406EGfg
 1        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
 2    becoming law.

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