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91_SB0836
LRB9105997EGfg
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Pension Code.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
5 changing Sections 4-103 and 4-121 and adding Section 4-141.1
6 as follows:
7 (40 ILCS 5/4-103) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-103)
8 Sec. 4-103. Municipality. "Municipality": (1) Any city,
9 township, village or incorporated town of 5,000 or more but
10 less than 500,000 inhabitants, and any fire protection
11 district having any full-time paid firefighters, and (2) any
12 city, village, incorporated town or township of less than
13 5,000 inhabitants having a full-time paid fire department
14 which adopts the provisions of this Article pursuant to the
15 provisions of Section 4-141, and (3) an employer under
16 Section 4-141.1 if a pension fund has been established under
17 that Section.
18 The term "city council" or "board of trustees" includes
19 the board of trustees of a fire protection district and the
20 board of town trustees or other persons empowered to draft
21 the tentative budget and appropriation ordinance and the
22 electors of such a township acting at the annual or special
23 meeting of town electors.
24 (Source: P.A. 83-1440.)
25 (40 ILCS 5/4-121) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-121)
26 Sec. 4-121. Board created. There is created in each
27 municipality a board of trustees to be known as the "Board of
28 Trustees of the Firefighters' Pension Fund". The membership
29 of the board for each municipality shall be, respectively, as
30 follows: in cities, the treasurer, clerk, marshall or chief
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1 officer of the fire department, and the comptroller if there
2 is one, or if not, the mayor; in each township, village or
3 incorporated town, the president of the municipality's board
4 of trustees, the village or town clerk, village or town
5 attorney, village or town treasurer, and the chief officer of
6 the fire department; in the case of a pension fund
7 established under Section 4-141.1, the persons specified in
8 that Section; and in each fire protection district, the
9 president and other 2 members of its board of trustees and
10 the marshall or chief of its fire department or service, as
11 the case may be; and in all the municipalities above
12 designated 3 additional persons chosen from their active
13 firefighters and one other person who has retired under the
14 "Firemen's Pension Fund Act of 1919", or this Article.
15 For the purposes of this Section, a firefighter receiving
16 a disability pension shall be considered a retired
17 firefighter. In the event that there are no retired
18 firefighters under the Fund or if none is willing to serve on
19 the board, then an additional active firefighter shall be
20 elected to the board in lieu of the retired firefighter that
21 would otherwise be elected.
22 If the regularly constituted fire department of a
23 municipality is dissolved and Section 4-106.1 is not
24 applicable, the board shall continue to exist and administer
25 the Fund so long as there continues to be any annuitant or
26 deferred pensioner in the Fund. In such cases, elections
27 shall continue to be held as specified in this Section,
28 except that: (1) deferred pensioners shall be deemed to be
29 active members for the purposes of such elections; (2) any
30 otherwise unfillable positions on the board, including ex
31 officio positions, shall be filled by election from the
32 remaining firefighters and deferred pensioners of the Fund,
33 to the extent possible; and (3) if the membership of the
34 board falls below 3 persons, the Illinois Director of
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1 Insurance or his designee shall be deemed a member of the
2 board, ex officio.
3 The members chosen from the active and retired
4 firefighters shall be elected by ballot at elections to be
5 held on the 3rd Monday in April of the applicable years under
6 the Australian ballot system, at such place or places, in the
7 municipality, and under such regulations as shall be
8 prescribed by the board.
9 No person shall cast more than one vote for each
10 candidate for whom he or she is eligible to vote. In the
11 elections for board members to be chosen from the active
12 firefighters, all active firefighters and no others may vote.
13 In the elections for board members to be chosen from retired
14 firefighters, the retired firefighters and no others may
15 vote.
16 Each member of the board so elected shall hold office for
17 a term of 3 years and until his or her successor has been
18 duly elected and qualified.
19 The board shall canvass the ballots and declare which
20 persons have been elected and for what term or terms
21 respectively. In case of a tie vote between 2 or more
22 candidates, the board shall determine by lot which candidate
23 or candidates have been elected and for what term or terms
24 respectively. In the event of the failure, resignation, or
25 inability to act of any board member, a successor shall be
26 elected for the unexpired term at a special election called
27 by the board and conducted in the same manner as a regular
28 election.
29 The board shall elect annually from its members a
30 president and secretary.
31 Board members shall not receive or have any right to
32 receive any salary from a pension fund for services performed
33 as board members.
34 (Source: P.A. 84-1039.)
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1 (40 ILCS 5/4-141.1 new)
2 Sec. 4-141.1. Fund for firefighters at Argonne National
3 Laboratory.
4 (a) For the purposes of this Section, "employer" means
5 an entity (other than a municipality as defined in item (1)
6 or (2) of Section 4-103) that operates and administers a fire
7 department, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy
8 or its successor, for the purpose of providing fire
9 protection for the Argonne National Laboratory.
10 For the purposes of this Section, "firefighter" means a
11 person employed on a regular, full-time basis as a member of
12 a fire department by an employer as defined in this Section,
13 whose duties include fighting fires and performing related
14 tasks in the course of providing fire protection for the
15 Argonne National Laboratory.
16 (b) An employer may establish a pension fund under this
17 Article for its firefighters by filing the following
18 documents with the Public Pension Division of the Department
19 of Insurance:
20 (1) A written undertaking executed by the employer
21 in a manner and form approved by the Division, under
22 which the employer agrees to be liable to the pension
23 fund for the employer contributions required under this
24 Section and to comply with all the requirements of this
25 Code and the Division.
26 (2) A written agreement between the employer and
27 the collective bargaining representative of the
28 firefighters, approving the creation of the pension fund
29 and the terms of the undertaking executed under
30 subdivision (b)(1) above.
31 A referendum under Section 4-141 is not required for the
32 establishment of a pension fund under this Section.
33 If a pension fund is established under this Section, all
34 firefighters of the employer shall participate in the fund as
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1 a condition of employment, except as otherwise provided in
2 subsection (h).
3 (c) A pension fund established under this Section shall
4 be subject to all the other provisions of this Article and
5 the other applicable provisions of this Code in the same
6 manner as any other pension fund established under this
7 Article, except that in the event of a conflict between this
8 Section and any other provision, this Section shall control.
9 (d) An employer that establishes a pension fund under
10 this Section shall be included in the term "municipality" for
11 the purposes of this Article, except that the provisions of
12 Section 4-118 authorizing the levy of a tax do not apply to
13 an employer under this Section. References in this Article
14 to the treasurer of the municipality shall be deemed to refer
15 to the treasurer or other chief financial officer of the
16 employer.
17 (e) The board of trustees of a pension fund established
18 under this Section shall consist of: the chief executive
19 officer of the employer, or his or her designee; the
20 treasurer (or other chief financial officer) of the employer,
21 or his or her designee; the chief personnel officer of the
22 employer, or his or her designee; the chief officer of the
23 fire department; plus the 3 active firefighters and one
24 retired firefighter (or additional active firefighter)
25 provided for in Section 4-121. If one or more of the
26 officers of the employer specified in this subsection are
27 unavailable to serve because of dissolution of the employer
28 or for any other reason, their places on the board of
29 trustees shall be taken by persons designated by the Illinois
30 Director of Insurance.
31 (f) An employer that establishes a pension fund under
32 this Section shall be responsible for making employer
33 contributions to the fund in accordance with the terms of the
34 undertaking required under subdivision (b)(1) of this
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1 Section. At a minimum, these contributions shall be designed
2 to provide a level of funding for the fund that is
3 substantially equal to the level of funding that would be
4 required for a pension fund established by a municipality
5 under Section 4-141 of this Code, as determined and approved
6 by the Public Pension Division of the Department of Insurance
7 at the time of creation of the fund.
8 (g) A firefighter's right to establish service credit in
9 the fund for periods of employment as a firefighter with the
10 employer prior to the establishment of the pension fund under
11 this Section shall be subject to the following conditions, if
12 imposed by the undertaking required under subdivision (b)(1)
13 of this Section: (i) that the employer and employee
14 contributions that have been paid to another pension plan for
15 the period of prior service be transferred, with accumulated
16 earnings, from that plan to the pension fund; and (ii) that
17 the employee, rather than the employer, shall be responsible
18 for paying all (or a specified portion) of any additional
19 contributions that may be necessary to fully fund the
20 benefits resulting from the granting of credit for that prior
21 service.
22 (h) In the event that there is a change in employer
23 after a pension fund has been established under this Section:
24 (1) If the new employer files a written undertaking
25 with the Public Pension Division of the Department of
26 Insurance within 90 days after assuming control of the
27 fire department, under which the new employer agrees to
28 succeed to the duties and liabilities of the former
29 employer with respect to the pension fund, then the
30 pension fund shall continue and firefighters first
31 employed by the new employer may also participate in the
32 fund.
33 (2) If the new employer fails to file the
34 undertaking referred to in subdivision (h)(1) within 90
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1 days after assuming control of the fire department, then
2 (i) the former employer shall be liable to pay to the
3 fund the amount of the pension fund's accrued unfunded
4 liability at the time the former employer relinquishes
5 control of the fire department, if any, as actuarially
6 determined by the Public Pension Division of the
7 Department of Insurance, (ii) the pension fund shall
8 remain in existence for the purpose of paying benefits to
9 participants and their eligible survivors and
10 beneficiaries, but no additional credit shall be earned
11 by or granted to the firefighters then participating in
12 the fund and no additional employee contributions shall
13 be accepted or required, and (iii) firefighters first
14 employed by the new employer shall not be eligible to
15 participate in the fund.
16 (i) If the operation of the fire department is
17 terminated after a pension fund has been established under
18 this Section, then (1) the former employer shall be liable to
19 pay to the fund the amount of the pension fund's accrued
20 unfunded liability at the time the operation of the fire
21 department is terminated, if any, as actuarially determined
22 by the Public Pension Division of the Department of
23 Insurance, and (2) the pension fund shall remain in existence
24 for the purpose of paying benefits to participants and their
25 eligible survivors and beneficiaries, but no additional
26 credit shall be earned by or granted to the firefighters that
27 participated in the fund and no additional employee
28 contributions shall be accepted or required.
29 (j) If the employer (or a former employer that remains
30 liable under subdivision (h)(2)(i) or (i)(1) of this Section)
31 is dissolved or becomes insolvent or subject to any
32 proceeding in bankruptcy, the pension fund shall have a claim
33 against the assets of the employer (or former employer) to
34 the extent of its liability to the fund.
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1 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2 becoming law.