40 ILCS 5/9-134.4

(40 ILCS 5/9-134.4)

Sec. 9-134.4. 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 January 1, 2001 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;

(2) have not previously retired from the Fund;

(3) file with the Board before March 1, 2003 a written application requesting the benefits provided in this Section;

(4) elect to retire under this Section on or after November 30, 2002 and on or before March 31, 2003 (or the date established under subsection (d), if applicable);

(5) have attained age 50 on or before the date of retirement and on or before March 31, 2003; and

(6) have at least 20 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 March 31, 2003, 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 September 30, 2003, 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.

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