Appointed police chiefs of cities, towns and villages that have formed their own police pension fund under Article 3 of the Illinois Pension Code have the option to participate in either the local police pension fund or in IMRF SLEP. (See Paragraph 3.80C)
If a police chief elects to join IMRF’s SLEP program, the police chief may transfer into IMRF service credit previously established in any Illinois police pension fund. Use IMRF Form entitled, "Election of Police Chief to Participate as a SLEP Member."
Members can access this form by visiting the Member Access area on IMRF's website (www.imrf.org).
The transferred service credit would be recognized as SLEP service credit. The local police pension fund would transfer an amount equal to:
The amounts accumulated to the police chief’s credit on the books of the police pension fund on the date of transfer, plus
Matching employer contributions, plus
Any interest the police chief paid to reinstate service with the police pension fund.
If IMRF determines that the amount transferred is less than the true cost of the service to be established, to establish that service, the police chief must pay to IMRF an additional contribution equal to the difference.
The true cost of the service to be established is the police chief’s full actuarial cost of the transfer to SLEP. When a police chief transfers service credit into the IMRF SLEP plan from a downstate police pension fund, the police chief’s cost for the transfer is the difference between the:
Amount of money the local police pension fund transfers to IMRF, and
Actuarially calculated value of the police chief’s total pension.
If the police chief does not make the full additional payment prior to termination of his participation with that employer, then his or her service shall be reduced by an amount equal to the difference between the amount transferred, including any payments made by the police chief prior to termination, and the true cost of the service to be established.
DO NOT report the police chief’s wages and contributions until the following steps are completed.
Obtain an estimate of the costs for the chief to transfer police pension fund service to the SLEP program.
Determine whether IMRF’s SLEP Plan is advantageous to the police chief.
Determine whether transferring in or reclassifying service is appropriate for the police chief’s circumstance.