Illinois § 12-133.5

§ 12-133.5.

Early retirement incentives. (a) To be eligible for the benefits provided in this Section, a person must: (1) have been, on July 1, 1998, an employee (i) contributing to the Fund in active payroll status in a position of employment under this Article, or (ii) receiving duty or ordinary disability benefits under Section 12-140, 12-142, or 12-143; (2) not have begun to receive a retirement annuity under this Article before August 31, 1998; (3) file with the Board, within 90 days after the effective date of this Section, a written election requesting the benefits provided in this Section; (4) withdraw from service on or after August 31, 1998 and no later than December 31, 1998; (5) have attained age 50 on or before the date of withdrawal; and (6) have, by the date of withdrawal, a total of at least 20 years of creditable service with participating systems under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act, of which at least 15 years must be under this Fund (not including any creditable service established under this Section). (b) An eligible person may establish up to 5 years of creditable service under this Article, in increments of one month, by making the contributions specified in subsection (c). 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 the highest average annual salary under Section 12-133 or the determination of salary under this or any other Article of this Code. (c) For each month of creditable service established under this Section, the person must pay to the Fund an employee contribution to be determined by the Fund, equal to 4.50% of the person's monthly salary rate in effect on the date of withdrawal. Subject to the requirements of subsection (d), the person may elect to pay the required employee contribution before the retirement annuity begins or through deduction from the retirement annuity over a period of up to 24 months. If a person who retires under this Section dies before all payments of employee contribution have been made, the remaining payments shall be deducted from any survivor or death benefits payable to the person's surviving spouse or beneficiary. All employee contributions paid under this Section shall be deemed employee contributions for the purposes of determining the tax levy under Section 12-149. Employee contributions made under this Section may be refunded under the same terms and conditions as other employee contributions under this Article. (d) A person who retires under the provisions of this Section shall have his or her retirement annuity calculated under the provisions of Section 12-133, except that the retirement annuity shall not be subject to the reduction for retirement under age 60 that is specified in Section 12-133. (e) Notwithstanding Section 12-146 of this Article, an annuitant who re-enters service under this Article after receiving a retirement annuity based on the additional benefits provided under this Section thereby forfeits the right to continue to receive those additional benefits and upon again retiring shall have his or her retirement annuity recalculated without the additional benefits provided in this Section. (Source: P.A. 90-766, eff. 8-14-98.)