40 ILCS 5/12-133.6
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 40 - PENSIONS|40 ILCS 5/ - Illinois Pension Code.|Article 12 - Park Employees' And Retirement Board Employees' Annuity And Benefit Fund--Cities Over 500,000

Sec. 12-133.6. Early retirement incentive.(a) To be eligible for the benefits provided in this Section, a person  must:(1) have been, on November 1, 2003, an employee (i)     contributing to the Fund in active payroll status in a position of employment under this Article, (ii) returning to active payroll status from an approved leave of absence prior to December 1, 2003, (iii) receiving ordinary or duty disability benefits under Section 12-140, 12-142, or 12-143 or (iv) or have been subjected to an involuntary termination or layoff by the employer and restored to service by his or her employer prior to January 31, 2004;(2) have not previously retired under this Article;(3) file with the Board before January 31, 2004 a     written election requesting the benefits provided in this Section;(4) withdraw from service on or after January 31,     2004 and on or before February 29, 2004 (or the date established under subsection (a-5), if applicable); and(5) have, by the date of withdrawal or by February     29, 2004, whichever is earlier, attained age 50 with at least 10 years of creditable service in one or more participating systems under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act, without including any creditable service established under this Section.(a-5) To ensure that the efficient operation of employers under this Article  is not jeopardized by the simultaneous retirement of large numbers of critical  personnel, each employer may, for its critical employees, extend the February 29, 2004 deadline for terminating employment under this Article established in  subdivision (a)(4) of this Section to a date not later than May 31, 2004 by  so  notifying the Fund by January 31, 2004.(b) An eligible person may establish up to 5 years of creditable service  under this Section, in increments of one month, by making the contributions  specified in subsection (c). In addition, for each month of creditable service  established under this Section, a person's age at retirement shall be deemed to  be one month older than it actually is, except for purposes of determining age  under item (5) of subsection (a).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 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 on the date of  withdrawal from service. Subject to the requirements of subsection (d), the  person may elect to pay the required employee contribution before the  retirement annuity commences or through deductions from the retirement annuity  over a period not longer than 24 months.If a person who retires dies before all payments of the employee contribution  have been made, the remaining payments shall be deducted from any survivor or  death benefits payable to the employee's surviving spouse or beneficiary.Notwithstanding any provision in this Article to the contrary, all employee  contributions paid under this Section shall not be deemed employee  contributions for the purpose of determining the tax levy under Section 12-149.   Notwithstanding any provision in this Article to the contrary, the employer  shall not make a contribution for any credit established by an employee under  subsection (b) of this Section.  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 be  entitled to have his or her retirement annuity calculated under the provisions  of Section 12-133, except that the retirement annuity shall not be subject to  reduction for retirement under age 60.(e) Notwithstanding Section 12-146 of this Article, an annuitant who  reenters service under this Article after receiving a retirement annuity based  on additional benefits provided under this Section thereby forfeits the right  to continue to receive those benefits, and upon again retiring shall have his  or her retirement annuity recalculated at the appropriate time without the  additional benefits provided in this Section.(f) No employer action in declaring an employee to be a critical employee pursuant to subsection (a-5) shall be construed as an impairment of any pension benefit or entitlement. No early retirement option or resultant benefit conferred under this Section shall, in any manner, vest for any employee until the earlier date of the employer's decision to release the employee from service or May 31, 2004.         (Source: P.A. 93-654, eff. 1-16-04.)