40 ILCS 5/7-145.1
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 40 - PENSIONS|40 ILCS 5/ - Illinois Pension Code.|Article 7 - Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Sec. 7-145.1. Alternative annuity for county officers.(a) The benefits provided in this Section and Section 7-145.2 are available  only if, prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the county board has filed with the Board of the Fund a resolution or  ordinance expressly consenting to the availability of these benefits for its  elected county officers.  The county board's consent is irrevocable with  respect to persons participating in the program, but may be revoked at any time  with respect to persons who have not paid an additional optional contribution  under this Section before the date of revocation.An elected county officer may elect to establish alternative credits for  an alternative annuity by electing in writing before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly to make additional optional  contributions in accordance with this Section and procedures established  by the board.  These alternative credits are available only for periods of  service as an elected county officer.  The elected county officer may  discontinue making the additional optional contributions by notifying the  Fund in writing in accordance with this Section and procedures established  by the board.Additional optional contributions for the alternative annuity shall  be as follows:(1) For service as an elected county officer after     the option is elected, an additional contribution of 3% of salary shall be contributed to the Fund on the same basis and under the same conditions as contributions required under Section 7-173.(2) For service as an elected county officer before     the option is elected, an additional contribution of 3% of the salary for the applicable period of service, plus interest at the effective rate from the date of service to the date of payment, plus any additional amount required by the county board under paragraph (3).  All payments for past service must be paid in full before credit is given. Payment must be received by the Board while the member is an active participant, except that one payment will be permitted after termination of participation.(3) With respect to service as an elected county     officer before the option is elected, if payment is made after the county board has filed with the Board of the Fund a resolution or ordinance requiring an additional contribution under this paragraph, then the contribution required under paragraph (2) shall include an amount to be determined by the Fund, equal to the actuarial present value of the additional employer cost that would otherwise result from the alternative credits being established for that service.  A county board's resolution or ordinance requiring additional contributions under this paragraph (3) is irrevocable. Payment must be received by the Board while the member is an active participant, except that one payment will be permitted after termination of participation.No additional optional contributions may be made for any period of service  for which credit has been previously forfeited by acceptance of a refund,  unless the refund is repaid in full with interest at the effective rate from  the date of refund to the date of repayment.(b) In lieu of the retirement annuity otherwise payable under this Article,  an elected county officer who (1) has elected to participate in the Fund and  make additional optional contributions in accordance with this Section, (2)  has held and made additional optional contributions with respect to the same  elected county office for at least 8 years, and (3) has attained  age 55 with at least 8 years of service credit (or has attained age 50 with at  least 20 years of service as a sheriff's law enforcement employee) may elect  to have his retirement annuity computed as follows:  3% of the participant's  salary for each of the first 8 years  of service credit, plus 4% of that salary for each of the next 4 years of  service credit, plus 5% of that salary for each year of service credit in  excess of 12 years, subject to a maximum of 80% of that salary.This formula applies only to service in an elected county office that the  officer held for at least 8 years, and only to service for which additional  optional contributions have been paid under this Section.  If an elected county  officer qualifies to have this formula applied to service in more than one  elected county office, the qualifying service shall be accumulated for purposes  of determining the applicable accrual percentages, but the salary used for each  office shall be the separate salary calculated for that office, as defined in  subsection (g).To the extent that the elected county officer has service credit that does  not qualify for this formula, his retirement annuity will first be determined  in accordance with this formula with respect to the service to which this  formula applies, and then in accordance with the remaining Sections of this  Article with respect to the service to which this formula does not apply.(c) In lieu of the disability benefits otherwise payable under this  Article, an elected county officer who (1) has  elected to participate in the Fund, and (2) has become  permanently disabled and as a consequence is unable to perform the duties  of his office, and (3) was making optional contributions in accordance with  this Section at the time the disability was incurred, may elect to receive  a disability annuity calculated in accordance with the formula in subsection  (b).  For the purposes of this subsection, an elected county officer shall be  considered permanently disabled only if:  (i) disability occurs while in  service as an elected county officer and is of such a nature as to prevent him  from reasonably performing the duties of his office at the time; and (ii) the  board has received a written certification by at least 2 licensed physicians  appointed by it stating that the officer is disabled and that the disability  is likely to be permanent.(d) Refunds of additional optional contributions shall be made on the  same basis and under the same conditions as provided under Section 7-166,  7-167 and 7-168.  Interest shall be credited at the effective rate on the  same basis and under the same conditions as for other contributions.If an elected county officer fails to hold that same elected county  office for at least 8 years, he or she shall be entitled after leaving office  to receive a refund of the additional optional contributions made with respect  to that office, plus interest at the effective rate.(e) The plan of optional alternative benefits and contributions shall be  available to persons who are elected county officers and active contributors  to the Fund on or after November 15, 1994 and elected to establish alternative credit before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly.  A person who was an elected county  officer and an active contributor to the Fund on November 15, 1994 but is  no longer an active contributor may apply to make additional optional  contributions under this Section at any time within 90 days after the  effective date of this amendatory Act of 1997; if the person is an annuitant,  the resulting increase in annuity shall begin to accrue on the first day of  the month following the month in which the required payment is received by the  Fund.(f) For the purposes of this Section and Section 7-145.2, the terms "elected  county officer" and "elected county office" include, but are not limited to:  (1) the county clerk, recorder, treasurer, coroner, assessor (if elected),  auditor, sheriff, and  State's Attorney; members of the county board; and the clerk of the circuit  court; and (2) a person who has been appointed to fill a vacancy in an  office that is normally filled by election on a countywide basis, for the  duration of his or her service in that office.  The terms "elected county  officer" and "elected county office" do not include any officer or office of  a county that has not consented to the availability of benefits under this  Section and Section 7-145.2.(g) For the purposes of this Section and Section 7-145.2, the term  "salary" means the final rate of earnings for the elected county office held,  calculated in a manner consistent with Section 7-116, but for that office  only.  If an elected county officer qualifies to have the formula in subsection  (b) applied to service in more than one elected county office, a separate  salary shall be calculated and applied with respect to each such office.(h) The changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of the 91st  General Assembly apply to persons who first make an additional optional  contribution under this Section on or after the effective date of this  amendatory Act.(i) Any elected county officer who was entitled to receive a stipend from the State on or after July 1, 2009 and on or before June 30, 2010 may establish earnings credit for the amount of stipend not received, if the elected county official applies in writing to the fund within 6 months after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly and pays to the fund an amount equal to (i) employee contributions on the amount of stipend not received, (ii) employer contributions determined by the Board equal to the employer's normal cost of the benefit  on the amount of stipend not received, plus (iii) interest on items (i) and (ii) at the actuarially assumed rate. (Source: P.A. 100-148, eff. 8-18-17.)