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90_SB0260
40 ILCS 5/4-103 from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-103
40 ILCS 5/4-121 from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-121
40 ILCS 5/4-141.1 new
Amends the Downstate Firefighter Article of the Pension
Code. Authorizes the entity that operates the Argonne
National Laboratory under contract from the U.S. Department
of Energy (currently the University of Chicago) to create and
administer a firefighters' pension fund for the firefighters
that it employs. Provides for funding by the employer.
Effective immediately.
LRB9002411LDdv
LRB9002411LDdv
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Pension Code by changing
2 Sections 4-103 and 4-121 and adding Section 4-141.1.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Pension Code is amended by
6 changing Sections 4-103 and 4-121 and adding Section 4-141.1
7 as follows:
8 (40 ILCS 5/4-103) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-103)
9 Sec. 4-103. Municipality. "Municipality": (1) Any city,
10 township, village or incorporated town of 5,000 or more but
11 less than 500,000 inhabitants, and any fire protection
12 district having any full-time paid firefighters, and (2) any
13 city, village, incorporated town or township of less than
14 5,000 inhabitants having a full-time paid fire department
15 which adopts the provisions of this Article pursuant to the
16 provisions of Section 4-141, and (3) an employer under
17 Section 4-141.1 if a pension fund has been established under
18 that Section.
19 The term "city council" or "board of trustees" includes
20 the board of trustees of a fire protection district and the
21 board of town trustees or other persons empowered to draft
22 the tentative budget and appropriation ordinance and the
23 electors of such a township acting at the annual or special
24 meeting of town electors.
25 (Source: P.A. 83-1440.)
26 (40 ILCS 5/4-121) (from Ch. 108 1/2, par. 4-121)
27 Sec. 4-121. Board created. There is created in each
28 municipality a board of trustees to be known as the "Board of
29 Trustees of the Firefighters' Pension Fund". The membership
30 of the board for each municipality shall be, respectively, as
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1 follows: in cities, the treasurer, clerk, marshall or chief
2 officer of the fire department, and the comptroller if there
3 is one, or if not, the mayor; in each township, village or
4 incorporated town, the president of the municipality's board
5 of trustees, the village or town clerk, village or town
6 attorney, village or town treasurer, and the chief officer of
7 the fire department; in the case of a pension fund
8 established under Section 4-141.1, the persons specified in
9 that Section; and in each fire protection district, the
10 president and other 2 members of its board of trustees and
11 the marshall or chief of its fire department or service, as
12 the case may be; and in all the municipalities above
13 designated 3 additional persons chosen from their active
14 firefighters and one other person who has retired under the
15 "Firemen's Pension Fund Act of 1919", or this Article.
16 For the purposes of this Section, a firefighter receiving
17 a disability pension shall be considered a retired
18 firefighter. In the event that there are no retired
19 firefighters under the Fund or if none is willing to serve on
20 the board, then an additional active firefighter shall be
21 elected to the board in lieu of the retired firefighter that
22 would otherwise be elected.
23 If the regularly constituted fire department of a
24 municipality is dissolved and Section 4-106.1 is not
25 applicable, the board shall continue to exist and administer
26 the Fund so long as there continues to be any annuitant or
27 deferred pensioner in the Fund. In such cases, elections
28 shall continue to be held as specified in this Section,
29 except that: (1) deferred pensioners shall be deemed to be
30 active members for the purposes of such elections; (2) any
31 otherwise unfillable positions on the board, including ex
32 officio positions, shall be filled by election from the
33 remaining firefighters and deferred pensioners of the Fund,
34 to the extent possible; and (3) if the membership of the
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1 board falls below 3 persons, the Illinois Director of
2 Insurance or his designee shall be deemed a member of the
3 board, ex officio.
4 The members chosen from the active and retired
5 firefighters shall be elected by ballot at elections to be
6 held on the 3rd Monday in April of the applicable years under
7 the Australian ballot system, at such place or places, in the
8 municipality, and under such regulations as shall be
9 prescribed by the board.
10 No person shall cast more than one vote for each
11 candidate for whom he or she is eligible to vote. In the
12 elections for board members to be chosen from the active
13 firefighters, all active firefighters and no others may vote.
14 In the elections for board members to be chosen from retired
15 firefighters, the retired firefighters and no others may
16 vote.
17 Each member of the board so elected shall hold office for
18 a term of 3 years and until his or her successor has been
19 duly elected and qualified.
20 The board shall canvass the ballots and declare which
21 persons have been elected and for what term or terms
22 respectively. In case of a tie vote between 2 or more
23 candidates, the board shall determine by lot which candidate
24 or candidates have been elected and for what term or terms
25 respectively. In the event of the failure, resignation, or
26 inability to act of any board member, a successor shall be
27 elected for the unexpired term at a special election called
28 by the board and conducted in the same manner as a regular
29 election.
30 The board shall elect annually from its members a
31 president and secretary.
32 Board members shall not receive or have any right to
33 receive any salary from a pension fund for services performed
34 as board members.
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1 (Source: P.A. 84-1039.)
2 (40 ILCS 5/4-141.1 new)
3 Sec. 4-141.1. Fund for firefighters at Argonne National
4 Laboratory.
5 (a) For the purposes of this Section, "employer" means
6 an entity (other than a municipality as defined in item (1)
7 or (2) of Section 4-103) that operates and administers a fire
8 department, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy
9 or its successor, for the purpose of providing fire
10 protection for the Argonne National Laboratory.
11 For the purposes of this Section, "firefighter" means a
12 person employed on a regular, full-time basis as a member of
13 a fire department by an employer as defined in this Section,
14 whose duties include fighting fires and performing related
15 tasks in the course of providing fire protection for the
16 Argonne National Laboratory.
17 (b) An employer may establish a pension fund under this
18 Article for its firefighters by filing the following
19 documents with the Public Employee Pension Fund Division of
20 the Department of Insurance:
21 (1) A written undertaking executed by the employer
22 in a manner and form approved by the Division, under
23 which the employer agrees to be liable to the pension
24 fund for the employer contributions required under this
25 Section and to comply with all the requirements of this
26 Code and the Division.
27 (2) A written agreement between the employer and
28 the collective bargaining representative of the
29 firefighters, approving the creation of the pension fund
30 and the terms of the undertaking executed under
31 subdivision (b)(1) above.
32 A referendum under Section 4-141 is not required for the
33 establishment of a pension fund under this Section.
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1 If a pension fund is established under this Section, all
2 firefighters of the employer shall participate in the fund as
3 a condition of employment, except as otherwise provided in
4 subsection (h).
5 (c) A pension fund established under this Section shall
6 be subject to all the other provisions of this Article and
7 the other applicable provisions of this Code in the same
8 manner as any other pension fund established under this
9 Article, except that in the event of a conflict between this
10 Section and any other provision, this Section shall control.
11 (d) An employer that establishes a pension fund under
12 this Section shall be included in the term "municipality" for
13 the purposes of this Article, except that the provisions of
14 Section 4-118 authorizing the levy of a tax do not apply to
15 an employer under this Section. References in this Article
16 to the treasurer of the municipality shall be deemed to refer
17 to the treasurer or other chief financial officer of the
18 employer.
19 (e) The board of trustees of a pension fund established
20 under this Section shall consist of: the chief executive
21 officer of the employer, or his or her designee; the
22 treasurer (or other chief financial officer) of the employer,
23 or his or her designee; the chief personnel officer of the
24 employer, or his or her designee; the chief officer of the
25 fire department; plus the 3 active firefighters and one
26 retired firefighter (or additional active firefighter)
27 provided for in Section 4-121. If one or more of the
28 officers of the employer specified in this subsection are
29 unavailable to serve because of dissolution of the employer
30 or for any other reason, their places on the board of
31 trustees shall be taken by persons designated by the Illinois
32 Director of Insurance.
33 (f) An employer that establishes a pension fund under
34 this Section shall be responsible for making employer
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1 contributions to the fund in accordance with the terms of the
2 undertaking required under subdivision (b)(1) of this
3 Section. At a minimum, these contributions shall be designed
4 to provide a level of funding for the fund that is
5 substantially equal to the level of funding that would be
6 required for a pension fund established by a municipality
7 under Section 4-141 of this Code, as determined and approved
8 by the Public Employee Pension Fund Division of the
9 Department of Insurance at the time of creation of the fund.
10 (g) A firefighter's right to establish service credit in
11 the fund for periods of employment as a firefighter with the
12 employer prior to the establishment of the pension fund under
13 this Section shall be subject to the following conditions, if
14 imposed by the undertaking required under subdivision (b)(1)
15 of this Section: (i) that the employer and employee
16 contributions that have been paid to another pension plan for
17 the period of prior service be transferred, with accumulated
18 earnings, from that plan to the pension fund; and (ii) that
19 the employee, rather than the employer, shall be responsible
20 for paying all (or a specified portion) of any additional
21 contributions that may be necessary to fully fund the
22 benefits resulting from the granting of credit for that prior
23 service.
24 (h) In the event that there is a change in employer
25 after a pension fund has been established under this Section:
26 (1) If the new employer files a written undertaking
27 with the Public Employee Pension Fund Division of the
28 Department of Insurance within 90 days after assuming
29 control of the fire department, under which the new
30 employer agrees to succeed to the duties and liabilities
31 of the former employer with respect to the pension fund,
32 then the pension fund shall continue and firefighters
33 first employed by the new employer may also participate
34 in the fund.
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1 (2) If the new employer fails to file the
2 undertaking referred to in subdivision (h)(1) within 90
3 days after assuming control of the fire department, then
4 (i) the former employer shall be liable to pay to the
5 fund the amount of the pension fund's accrued unfunded
6 liability at the time the former employer relinquishes
7 control of the fire department, if any, as actuarially
8 determined by the Public Employee Pension Fund Division
9 of the Department of Insurance, (ii) the pension fund
10 shall remain in existence for the purpose of paying
11 benefits to participants and their eligible survivors and
12 beneficiaries, but no additional credit shall be earned
13 by or granted to the firefighters then participating in
14 the fund and no additional employee contributions shall
15 be accepted or required, and (iii) firefighters first
16 employed by the new employer shall not be eligible to
17 participate in the fund.
18 (i) If the operation of the fire department is
19 terminated after a pension fund has been established under
20 this Section, then (1) the former employer shall be liable to
21 pay to the fund the amount of the pension fund's accrued
22 unfunded liability at the time the operation of the fire
23 department is terminated, if any, as actuarially determined
24 by the Public Employee Pension Fund Division of the
25 Department of Insurance, and (2) the pension fund shall
26 remain in existence for the purpose of paying benefits to
27 participants and their eligible survivors and beneficiaries,
28 but no additional credit shall be earned by or granted to the
29 firefighters that participated in the fund and no additional
30 employee contributions shall be accepted or required.
31 (j) If the employer (or a former employer that remains
32 liable under subdivision (h)(2)(i) or (i)(1) of this Section)
33 is dissolved or becomes insolvent or subject to any
34 proceeding in bankruptcy, the pension fund shall have a claim
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1 against the assets of the employer (or former employer) to
2 the extent of its liability to the fund.
3 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4 becoming law.