Revised ECO Retirement Benefits

You are an inactive member if you previously participated in IMRF and left your contributions on deposit with us. 

You are guaranteed the return of your contributions as either a pension or a refund. However, if you have enough service credit to qualify for an IMRF pension we strongly discourage you from requesting a refund. There are almost no circumstances when a refund will be an advantage to you over a pension.

Qualifying for a Pension

Participation in ECO does not change vesting requirements. The earliest retirement age is:

• Age 55 with eight years of any combination of service credit
• Age 50 (SLEP Tier 1 members only) with 20 years of SLEP service credit or 20 years of SLEP and SLEP ECO service credit

You need eight years of Revised ECO Tier 1 service in the same elected position with the same county to qualify for the Revised ECO Tier 1 formula. If you do not earn eight years of ECO services in the same elected position with the same county, your

• Service will be treated as Regular or SLEP, as appropriate
• Additional ECO contributions will be refunded with interest when you retire

The rules governing reduction of pension for Tier 1 Regular Plan retirement prior to age 60 still apply to any portion of your pension calculated with Regular service credit. However, the reduction is not applicable if you are eligible for a SLEP Tier 1 pension or to any portion of a pension attributable to ECO service.

Pension Formula

A Tier 1 ECO pension is calculated as follows (credit is given for partial years after eight years in the same position with the same county):

• 3% of ECO monthly final rate of earnings for each of the first eight years of ECO service credit, plus
• 4% of ECO monthly final rate of earnings for each of the next four years of ECO service credit, plus
• 5% of ECO monthly final rate of earnings for each year of ECO service credit in excess of 12 years, to a maximum of 80% at 20 years of service.

However, the total pension at retirement cannot exceed 80% of your final rate of earnings.

Final Rate of Earnings (FRE)

Under the Tier 1 Revised ECO Plan, your FRE is the average of the highest consecutive 48 months of ECO service:

• In the last 10 years of service in a specific office with the same county or
• The number of years held in a specific office (minimum eight years) with the same county

The Tier 1 Revised ECO FRE does not include any lump sum payments for vacation, sick leave, overtime, personal leave, etc. The Revised ECO Tier 1 FRE does include stipends.

A separate FRE will be calculated for each elected county position you hold for eight or more years.

Alternative FRE Formula: Lifetime FRE

If a member has higher earnings at the beginning of his or her career, an alternate FRE is used. The Lifetime FRE averages all of a member’s earnings reported by all of his or her IMRF employer(s) over the member’s entire IMRF career.

When you retire, IMRF will calculate your FRE using both methods and will use the FRE that provides you with the larger pension.

Service Credit

Service credit is your total time under IMRF, stated in years and fractions. Service is credited monthly while you are working or receiving IMRF disability benefits.

Annual Pension Increases

Under Revised ECO Tier 1, your pension is increased by 3% of the original amount on January 1 of each year after you retire. If your pension effective date is something other than January 1, your first year increase will be prorated based on the number of months you are retired that first year.

Supplemental Benefit Payment ("13th Payment")

After you have retired and have received pension payments for at least 12 months in a row, you will be eligible for a supplemental benefit payment every July. When you first retire, you must have retired on or before June 30 to receive a 13th Payment the next year. For example:

You will receive this supplemental payment with your usual July pension payment. The amount varies every year, but it will always be less than your monthly pension amount.