(40 ILCS 5/9-134.3)

Sec. 9-134.3. Early retirement incentives.

(a) To be eligible for the benefits provided in this Section, a person must:

(1) be a current contributing member of the Fund established under this Article who, on May 1, 1997 and within 30 days prior to the date of retirement, is (i) in active payroll status in a position of employment under this Article or (ii) receiving disability benefits under Section 9-156 or 9-157; or else be eligible under subsection (g);

(2) have not previously retired from the Fund, except as provided under subsection (g);

(3) file with the Board before October 1, 1997 (or the date specified in subsection (g), if applicable) a written application requesting the benefits provided in this Section;

(4) elect to retire under this Section on or after September 1, 1997 and on or before February 28, 1998 (or the date established under subsection (d) or (g), if applicable);

(5) have attained age 55 on or before the date of retirement and before February 28, 1998; and

(6) have at least 10 years of creditable service in the Fund, excluding service in any of the other participating systems under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act, by the effective date of the retirement annuity or February 28, 1998, whichever occurs first.

(b) An employee who qualifies for the benefits provided under this Section shall be entitled to the following:

(1) The employee's retirement annuity, as calculated under the other provisions of this Article, shall be increased at the time of retirement by an amount equal to 1% of the employee's average annual salary for the highest 4 consecutive years within the last 10 years of service, multiplied by the employee's number of years of service credit in this Fund up to a maximum of 10 years; except that the total retirement annuity, including any additional benefits elected under Section 9-121.6 or 9-179.3, shall not exceed 80% of that highest average annual salary.

(2) If the employee's retirement annuity is calculated under Section 9-134, the employee shall not be subject to the reduction in retirement annuity because of retirement below age 60 that is otherwise required under that Section.

(c) A person who elects to retire under the provisions of this Section thereby relinquishes his or her right, if any, to have the retirement annuity calculated under the alternative formula formerly set forth in Section 20-122 of the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act.

(d) In the case of an employee whose immediate retirement could jeopardize public safety or create hardship for the employer, the deadline for retirement provided in subdivision (a)(4) of this Section may be extended to a specified date, no later than August 31, 1998, by the employee's department head, with the approval of the President of the County Board. In the case of an employee who is not employed by a department of the County, the employee's "department head", for the purposes of this Section, shall be a person designated by the President of the County Board.

(e) Notwithstanding Section 9-161, an annuitant who reenters service under this Article after receiving a retirement annuity based on benefits provided under this Section thereby forfeits the right to continue to receive those benefits and shall have his or her retirement annuity recalculated without the benefits provided in this Section.

(f) This Section also applies to the Fund established under Article 10 of this Code.

(g) A person who (1) was a participating employee on November 30, 1996, (2) was laid off on or after December 1, 1996 and before May 1, 1997 due to the elimination of the employee's job or position, (3) meets the requirements of items (3) through (6) of subsection (a), and (4) has not been reinstated as a Cook County employee since being laid off is eligible for the benefits provided under this Section. For such a person, the application required under subdivision (a)(3) of this Section must be filed within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly, and the date of retirement must be within 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act.

In the case of a person eligible under this subsection (g) who began to receive a retirement annuity before the effective date of this amendatory Act, the annuity shall be recalculated to include the increase under this Section, and that increase shall take effect on the first annuity payment date following the date of application.

(Source: P.A. 92-599, eff. 6-28-02.)