(a)To be eligible for the benefits provided in this Section, a person must:
(1)be a member of this System who, on any day during June, 2002, is (i) in active payroll status in a position of employment with a department and an active contributor to this System with respect to that employment, and terminates that employment before the retirement annuity under this Article begins, or (ii) on layoff status from such a position with a right of re-employment or recall to service, or (iii) receiving benefits under Section 14-123, 14-123.1 or 14-124, but only if the member has not been receiving those benefits for a continuous period of more than 2 years as of the date of application;
(2)not have received any retirement annuity under this Article beginning earlier than August 1, 2002;
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(a) To be eligible for the benefits provided in this Section, a person must: (1) be a member of this System who, on any day during June, 2002, is (i) in active payroll status in a position of employment with a department and an active contributor to this System with respect to that employment, and terminates that employment before the retirement annuity under this Article begins, or (ii) on layoff status from such a position with a right of re-employment or recall to service, or (iii) receiving benefits under Section 14-123, 14-123.1 or 14-124, but only if the member has not been receiving those benefits for a continuous period of more than 2 years as of the date of application; (2) not have received any retirement annuity under this Article beginning earlier than August 1, 2002; (3) file with the Board on or before December 31, 2002 a written application requesting the benefits provided in this Section; (4) terminate employment under this Article no later than December 31, 2002 (or the date established under subsection (d), if applicable); (5) by the date of termination of service, have at least 8 years of creditable service under this Article, without the use of any creditable service established under this Section; (6) by the date of termination of service, have at least 5 years of membership service earned while an employee under this Article, which may include military service for which credit is established under Section 14-105(b), service during the qualifying period for which credit is established under Section 14-104(a), and service for which credit has been established by repaying a refund under Section 14-130, but shall not include service for which any other optional service credit has been established; and (7) not receive any early retirement benefit under Section 16-133.3 of this Code. (b) An eligible person may establish up to 5 years of creditable service under this Article, 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. 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 final average compensation under Section 14-103.12 or the determination of compensation under this or any other Article of this Code. The age enhancement established under this Section may not be used to enable any person to begin receiving a retirement annuity calculated under Section 14-110 before actually attaining age 50 (without any age enhancement under this Section). The age enhancement established under this Section may be used for all other purposes under this Article (including calculation of a proportionate annuity payable by this System under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act), except for purposes of the level income option in Section 14-112, the reversionary annuity under Section 14-113, and the required distributions under Section 14-121.1. The age enhancement established under this Section may be used in determining benefits payable under Article 16 of this Code under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act, if the person has at least 5 years of service credit in the Article 16 system that was earned while participating in that system as a teacher (as defined in Section 16-106) employed by a department (as defined in Section 14-103.04). Age enhancement established under this Section shall not otherwise be used in determining benefits payable under other Articles of this Code under the Retirement Systems Reciprocal Act. (c) For all creditable service established under this Section, a person must pay to the System an employee contribution to be determined by the System, based on the member's rate of compensation on June 1, 2002 (or the last date before June 1, 2002 for which a rate can be determined) and the retirement contribution rate in effect on June 1, 2002 for the member (or for members with the same social security and alternative formula status as the member). If the member receives a lump sum payment for accumulated vacation, sick leave and personal leave upon withdrawal from service, and the net amount of that lump sum payment is at least as great as the amount of the contribution required under this Section, the entire contribution must be paid by the employee by payroll deduction. If there is no such lump sum payment, or if it is less than the contribution required under this Section, the member shall make an initial payment by payroll deduction, equal to the net amount of the lump sum payment for accumulated vacation, sick leave, and personal leave, and have the remaining amount due treated as a reduction from the retirement annuity in 24 equal monthly installments beginning in the month in which the retirement annuity takes effect. The required contribution may be paid as a pre-tax deduction from earnings. For federal and Illinois tax purposes, the monthly amount by which the annuitant's benefit is reduced shall not be treated as a contribution by the annuitant, but rather as a reduction of the annuitant's monthly benefit. (c-5) The reduction in retirement annuity provided in subsection (c) of Section 14-108 does not apply to the annuity of a person who retires under this Section. A person who has received any age enhancement or creditable service under this Section may begin to receive an unreduced retirement annuity upon attainment of age 55 with at least 25 years of creditable service (including any age enhancement and creditable service established under this Section). (d) In order to ensure that the efficient operation of State government is not jeopardized by the simultaneous retirement of large numbers of key personnel, the director or other head of a department may, for key employees of that department, extend the December 31, 2002 deadline for terminating employment under this Article established in subdivision (a)(4) of this Section to a date not later than April 30, 2003 by so notifying the System in writing by December 31, 2002. (e) Notwithstanding Section 14-111, a person who has received any age enhancement or creditable service under this Section and who reenters service under this Article (or as an employee of a department under Article 16) other than as a temporary employee thereby forfeits that age enhancement and creditable service and is entitled to a refund of the contributions made pursuant to this Section. (f) The System shall determine the amount of the increase in the present value of future benefits resulting from the granting of early retirement incentives under this Section and shall report that amount to the Governor and the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly and on or before November 15, 2004. Beginning with State fiscal year 2008, the increase reported under this subsection (f) shall be included in the calculation of the required State contribution under Section 14-131. (g) In addition to the contributions otherwise required under this Article, the State shall appropriate and pay to the System an amount equal to $70,000,000 in State fiscal years 2004 and 2005. (h) The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (i) shall hold one or more hearings on or before the last session day during the fall veto session of 2004 to review recommendations relating to funding of early retirement incentives under this Section and (ii) shall file its report with the General Assembly on or before December 31, 2004 making its recommendations relating to funding of early retirement incentives under this Section; the Commission's report may contain both majority recommendations and minority recommendations. The System shall recalculate and recertify to the Governor by January 31, 2005 the amount of the required State contribution to the System for State fiscal year 2005 with respect to those incentives. The Pension Laws Commission (or its successor, the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability) shall determine and report to the General Assembly, on or before January 1, 2004 and annually thereafter through the year 2006, its estimate of (1) the annual amount of payroll savings likely to be realized by the State as a result of the early retirement of persons receiving early retirement incentives under this Section and (2) the net annual savings or cost to the State from the program of early retirement incentives created under this Section. The System, the Department of Central Management Services, the Governor's Office of Management and Budget (formerly Bureau of the Budget), and all other departments shall provide to the Commission any assistance that the Commission may request with respect to its reports under this Section. The Commission may require departments to provide it with any information that it deems necessary or useful with respect to its reports under this Section, including without limitation information about (1) the final earnings of former department employees who elected to receive benefits under this Section, (2) the earnings of current department employees holding the positions vacated by persons who elected to receive benefits under this Section, and (3) positions vacated by persons who elected to receive benefits under this Section that have not yet been refilled. (i) The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly do not apply to persons who retired under this Section on or before May 1, 1992.