(40 ILCS 5/9-179) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 9-179)

Sec. 9-179. Election as to amount to be deducted from compensation-refunds.

(a) Any employee who failed to elect to make contributions beginning on September 1, 1935, for any period of service while he was not a contributor to the fund or any employee who elected to make contributions for such period and desires to change the amounts previously authorized by him, may, upon application to the board elect to make such contributions. Any such election shall be made in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Interest on sums accumulated to the credit of such employee shall be adjusted for the periods of time during which such contributions are made.

(b) Any employee may contribute to the fund for any period of service rendered to such county after January 1, 1926, by virtue of appointment or election to a position which did not allow him to contribute or to receive credit under the provisions of "The 1925 Act" of this Article. Such contributions may include: (1) any period during which he was in the armed service of the United States if he left the service of the county to enter military service in the armed services and returned to the service of such county within 90 days after his discharge from such armed service, and if such county did not make such payment on his behalf, (2) any period of service for the county for which salary or wages were paid in whole or in part by the State of Illinois and for which he was not allowed to participate in a pension fund and also such period of service for which lodging, board, and laundry was provided by the employer, in lieu of salary, and no other salary or wages were paid, in which case the salary base to be considered for such service shall be the amount set forth in Section 9-112, paragraph (c) of this Article, (3) such amounts as he would have contributed for annuity purposes had deductions from his salary been made at the rates in effect under the provisions of "The 1925 Act" during the period of time such service was rendered.

Upon making such contributions he shall be credited with concurrent county contributions at the rates in effect for county employees during the periods such service was rendered. Such payments and concurrent county contributions shall be made with interest at the effective rate and shall, together with all other amounts contributed by such employee for annuity purposes, be considered in computing the annuities to which such employee or his widow shall have a right. Any such periods of service for which payment is made shall be counted as periods of service for annuity purposes.

In order to be credited as service under Section 9-134 of this Article all such payments by a county employee must be made in full while the employee is still in service of the county. If payment is not so made any payments made with interest at the effective rate shall be refunded to the employee when he withdraws from service, or to his widow in the event of his death, or if no widow, in accordance with the other refund provisions of this Article. The employee may elect to have such partial payments made by him, together with the concurrent county contributions and interest, credited toward the age and service and widow's annuities on the assumption that the payments shall apply to his earliest service. In the event of death of the employee, while in service, his widow may elect to have such payments and related county contributions, and interest, credited for widow's annuity, to the extent that they do not increase her annuity above that fixed for her on the assumption her deceased husband had continued in service at the rate of his final salary until he became 65 years of age, and the proportional part of the payments and related contributions were included.

(Source: P.A. 77-1199.)