Back to Summary of Appeal Procedures

ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT FUND

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

APPEAL PROCEDURES

(NON-DISABILITY)

I. Administrative Staff Determination.

1. Staff Determination. The IMRF Administrative staff is responsible for the daily claims-processing function of the Fund, including processing of all claims for benefits or service credit or any other claims against or relating to the Fund.
   
2. Benefit Oversight Committee. The Benefit Oversight Committee, on a case-by-case basis, may review staff determinations adverse to a member’s claim for benefits or service. The Associate General Counsel, Benefits Manager, Field Services Manager or Past Service Supervisor may refer claims to the Benefit Oversight Committee. The Benefit Oversight Committee shall be composed of three members: the Executive Director, the Director of Operations & Planning, and the General Counsel. Decisions of the Benefit Oversight Committee shall be considered to be administrative staff determinations.

II. Hearing.

1. Petition. Any person adversely affected by an administrative staff determination may petition for a hearing before the Board of Trustees Benefit Review Committee. The petition must be in writing but may be in any format and need merely inform the Fund of the petitioner’s desire for a hearing. The petition should be directed to the Associate General Counsel in the IMRF Oak Brook office and must be received by IMRF no later than ninety (90) days after the date of the administrative staff determination letter. Failure to timely file an appeal petition shall result in the administrative staff determination becoming a final administrative decision, for purposes of the Administrative Review Law, on the ninety-first (91st) day after the date of the staff determination letter.
   
2. Acknowledgment of Petition; Statement of Claim. Upon the filing of a petition for a hearing, the Associate General Counsel shall send an acknowledgment of the petition informing the claimant that he/she is required to file a Statement of Claim, which shall include: the petitioner’s name, social security number, and address; the name and address of the petitioner’s authorized representative, if any; a statement of the facts forming the basis for the appeal, which may include any new or additional evidence; any documents or other materials the petitioner wishes to be considered in conjunction with the appeal; an explanation of the relief sought; and a statement as to whether the petitioner requests a hearing with or without personal appearance and, if by personal appearance, in person or via video or telephone conference.
   
3. Scheduling of Hearing. Upon receipt of the Statement of Claim, the Associate General Counsel shall add the petitioner’s claim to the agenda of the next available Benefit Review Committee Meeting.
   
4. Notification. Upon scheduling of a hearing before the Benefit Review Committee, a petitioner shall be provided with written notice of the date, time and place of the hearing and the subject matter of the hearing. Upon request, the petitioner or his/her representative will be provided with all documentation and other materials to be presented to the Benefit Review Committee by the administrative staff.
   
5. Continuances and Extensions of Time. Continuances of the hearing date and other extensions of time may be granted to the petitioner upon request. The Benefit Review Committee will normally consider an appeal within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of receipt of the appeal petition by the Associate General Counsel. However, should the petitioner choose not to submit a Statement of Claim, as required by these procedures, the Benefit Review Committee will consider the appeal at the first available meeting after the expiration of the foregoing one hundred eighty (180) day time period. In the event that a petitioner fails to submit a Statement of Claim, the Benefit Review Committee’s consideration of the appeal will be based solely upon the written materials that are already in the IMRF file and no hearing will be held. On the other hand, any documents or other materials that are submitted in addition to a Statement of Claim must be received by IMRF no later than ten (10) days prior to the scheduled hearing date. All additional materials received less than ten (10) days before the hearing date will be considered a “late submission”. Whenever a petitioner makes a “late submission”, the Benefit Review Committee will offer the petitioner the following alternatives:
   
   1. The petitioner can proceed with the hearing as scheduled; however, the Benefit Review Committee WILL NOT consider the “late submission”; or
   
   2. The petitioner can request, and receive, a postponement of the hearing until the earliest available future date in order to allow for consideration of the “late submission”.
   
   If a hearing is postponed in order to allow for consideration of the “late submission”, any additional materials submitted within ten (10) days of the re-scheduled hearing date WILL NOT be considered by the Benefit Review Committee or by the full Board of Trustees.
   
6. Representation. The petitioner may be represented by counsel or a designated spokesperson at the hearing. The Associate General Counsel or his designated representative shall present the IMRF administrative staff position.
   
7. Conduct of the Hearing.
   
   (a) Appearance. The petitioner is not required to personally appear at the hearing and may be represented solely by the Statement of Claim on file. In the alternative, at the petitioner’s discretion, the petitioner or his/her representative may appear in person or the hearing may be conducted via telephone and/or video conference.
   
   (b) Procedures. The Chairman of the Benefit Review Committee shall conduct a full and fair hearing; maintain order and make a sufficient record for a full and true disclosure of the facts and issues. Three members of the Benefit Review Committee shall constitute a quorum and a quorum is needed for all hearings. The hearing shall be informal and the rules of evidence shall not apply. Any part of the evidence may be received in written form. The Committee shall be provided with a copy of the Statement of Claim, a statement of the position of the administrative staff and such other documentation as is available. If a Statement of Claim has not been submitted within one hundred eighty (180) days from receipt of the appeal petition, the petitioner will only be allowed to make an oral presentation, unless the Committee grants the petitioner leave to file a late Statement of Claim. Members of the Benefit Review Committee may ask questions necessary for better understanding of the facts or law. The hearing shall be open to the public, unless the chair, for good cause shown and pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Open Meetings Act, shall determine otherwise. An IMRF employer (participating municipality or participating instrumentality) may provide written materials to IMRF staff for incorporation into the packet submitted to the Benefit Review Committee and the full Board of Trustees. An employer may also attend hearings of the Benefit Review Committee and meetings of the full Board of Trustees and can make audio recordings of said hearings and meetings. An employer also has standing to, in a separate proceeding, contest a rate increase that might be assessed due to a decision of the Benefit Review Committee and the full Board of Trustees. However, an employer does not have standing to actively participate in an individual’s appeal of an Administrative Staff Determination.
   
   (c) Record of Proceedings. A record of proceedings shall be kept which shall be in the form of a non-verbatim report. The petitioner may obtain a verbatim record of the hearing, taken by a court reporter, by making a timely request and paying the actual cost entailed. The Associate General Counsel shall be the custodian of the documents and record.
   
   (d) Determination. Upon conclusion of all evidence and arguments, the Benefit Review Committee shall, in private deliberation, make its decision as to the disposition of the claim. The vote of at least a majority of a quorum shall be required for any decision of the Benefit Review Committee. The Benefit Review Committee shall render one of the following decisions: affirmance of the administrative staff determination; reversal of the administrative staff determination; remand of the proceedings to the administrative staff for further investigation; request the development of an alternative resolution; or, in the case of deadlock, continuation of the claim for consideration by the full Board of Trustees. The decision shall be in the form of a recommendation to the full Board of Trustees.

III. Final Administrative Decision.

1. Decision of the Full Board of Trustees. The full Board of Trustees will consider the recommendation of the Benefit Review Committee in making the decision for the Fund as to the disposition of the claim. The Board of Trustees shall render one of the following decisions: affirmance of the administrative staff determination; reversal of the administrative staff determination; remand of the proceedings to the administrative staff for further investigation; or request the development of an alternative resolution. The Board of Trustees will normally consider an appeal within one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of receipt of the appeal petition by the Associate General Counsel. However, should the petitioner choose not to submit a Statement of Claim, as required by these procedures, the Board will consider the appeal petition at the first available meeting after the expiration of the foregoing one hundred eighty (180) day time period.
   
2. Final Administrative Decision. A decision of the Board of Trustees either affirming or reversing the determination of the administrative staff shall be a final administrative decision for purposes of review under the Illinois Administrative Review Act (735 ILCS 5/3-101 et seq.) Remand of the proceedings to the administrative staff by the Board of Trustees shall not be considered a final decision, nor shall requesting the development of an alternative resolution be considered a final decision.
   
3. Remand for Further Investigation. In the case of a remand of the proceedings to the administrative staff for further investigation, the administrative staff, upon completion of the directed investigation, shall present its recommendation to the full Board of Trustees at the next regularly scheduled meeting, and the Board of Trustees shall make a final administrative decision either affirming or reversing that recommendation.
   
4. Notice of Decision. The Associate General Counsel shall send written notice of the decision of the Board of Trustees to the petitioner and, if applicable, the petitioner’s representative.

3/23/07