News

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has issued Executive Order 2020-07, which suspends the requirement of the Open Meetings Act that members of a public body be physically present at meetings of the public body, and the limitations of the Open Meetings Act as to when members of a public body may participate in meetings of the public body remotely.

The Executive Order, issued pursuant to the authority granted the Governor under Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, also encourages public bodies to postpone consideration of public business when possible, and encourages them to provide, video, audio and/or telephonic access to meetings to ensure members of the public may monitor the meeting, and to update the public bodies’ web sites and social media feeds to keep the public fully apprised of modifications to their meeting schedules or the format of meetings.

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Pension Question for Police Officers Returning to Work Part-Time

A police department has part-time hourly officers who are not in the Article 3 Fund, and the department may hire back some of their own retirees temporarily because of staff shortages due to COVID-19. When asked if this would impact the officers’ pensions, our opinion is that they can be hired into a position not covered by Article 3. However, another question posed is will there be tax ramifications of going back to work for the same town before the age of 59.5?

Answers:

• If the member is being rehired into a police officer role, they must (re)join the Article 3 Fund and their retirement benefit must be suspended.
• If the member is being rehired into a non-police officer role, they can continue to collect their retirement pension and if they are unter the age of 59.5, their 2020 1099R will reflect a “1” in Box 7.

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The Illinois Police Officers’ Pension Fund Investment Board is now accepting resumes and RFP’s for the following positions:

• Executive Director
• General Legal Counsel
• Administrative Services

Please visit this link https://bit.ly/2vXYd8R for the full job description and details on RFP’s.

If you are unable to access these documents please send an email to ILPOPIF@gmail.com referring to the job description or RFP you are interested in and the document will be sent to you directly.

Statement from IPPFA President James McNamee:

“The IPPFA will be suspending all in-person training, including conferences and seminars, through June. After which, we will review the situation to see when we can resume in-person events.“

If you were registered for any of our events that have been suspended, please be aware that refunds will be processed as soon as possible.

We thank you in advance for your patience.

Executive Order in Response to COVID-19
Issued by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on March 16, 2020

To view this executive order in full, please click here.

NOTICE: A MEETING OF THE POLICE OFFICERS’ PENSION INVESTMENT FUND

To be held on Wednesday, March 13, 2020 at  10:00am.

You can view the agenda by clicking here.

Rock Island Police Department
1212 5th Ave
Rock Island, IL 61201

NOTICE: A MEETING OF THE POLICE OFFICERS’ PENSION INVESTMENT FUND

To be held on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at  10:00am.

You can view the agenda by clicking here.

Aurora Police Department
Community Room
1200 E. Indian Trail Road
Aurora, IL 60504

NOTICE: A MEETING OF THE POLICE OFFICERS’ PENSION INVESTMENT FUND

To be held on Monday, February 24, 2020 at 9:30am.

You can view the agenda by clicking here.

Peoria Police Department
Training Room
600 SW Adams St.
Peoria, IL 61602

FIREFIGHTERS’ Pension Investment Fund Transition Board

The transition board trustees will oversee the consolidation of local funds over the next year, when permanent board trustees will be elected. The fund boards consist of five members drawn from employees and retirees and four members representing employers.

The following members will serve on the FIREFIGHTERS’ Pension Investment Fund:

Kevin Bramwell will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Bramwell is a 23-year first responder who currently serves as a firefighter in the Village of Bolingbrook and as president of the Bolingbrook Firefighters Pension Fund, the Bolingbrook Firefighters Retiree Healthcare Funding Trust and IAFF Local 3005. He previously worked as a paramedic in the Village of Forest Park and for Elmhurst-based Superior Air-Ground Ambulance Service. Bramwell is a member and former president of the Bolingbrook Rotary Club. Bramwell currently studies Fire Administration at Columbia Southern University.

Steve Chirico will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Chirico was elected mayor of Naperville in 2015 after serving one term as alderman. Mayor Chirico has been active in the community and region for many years. This includes his term as a City Council member from 2011-2015, his work with 360 Youth and Family Services, Naperville Responds For Our Veterans, the Downtown Naperville Alliance (DNA), City of Naperville Advisory Cultural Commission, the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Legislative Steering Committee and the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference, which he served as president of for the 2019 fiscal year. After graduating from Naperville Central, Chirico went on to attend Northern Illinois University.

Brad Cole will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Cole has served as executive director of the Illinois Municipal League since 2014. Most recently, Cole was Senior Vice President of Pepsi MidAmerica. Prior to entering the private sector, he worked as Downstate Director for U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, served as Mayor of the City of Carbondale for two four-year terms, which followed one four-year term on the city council, and was Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor George Ryan. He is Chairman Emeritus of Sister Cities International, having served two years as chairman of its global board of directors. Separate from the League, Cole serves as Managing Director of the IML Risk Management Association. Cole is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a bachelor’s degree in a double major of political science and biological sciences, and a master’s degree in legal studies from the SIU School of Law.

Russ Hunt will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Hunt currently serves as Battalion Chief for the Bolingbrook Fire Department. Hunt previously served as vice president of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois from 2006 to 2018, president of Bolingbrook Local 3005 from 1985 to 2001 and president of the Bolingbrook firefighters pension fund from 1987 to 2002.

Matthew Kink will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Kink currently works as a firefighter for the Springfield Fire Department, in addition to owning and working as a tax consultant at his namesake firm Matt Kink Tax Advisory Solutions. He is also an attorney at the Edwards Group LLC in Springfield. Previously, Kink worked at Levi, Ray and Shoup as senior counsel. He is a trustee of both the Springfield Firefighters Pension Fund and Foreign Fire Insurance Fund. Kink earned his Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and both his Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor from Creighton University.

Patrick Nichting will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Nichting has served as City Treasurer for the City of Peoria and tax collector for the Township of the City of Peoria since 2009. Previously, Nichting was a Peoria City Councilman and Chief Economic Officer for the Panco Food Service Equipment Corporation. He has served as a trustee on both the firefighter and police pension funds in the City of Peoria. Nichting is the Co-Chairman of the Central Illinois Federal Weed and Seed Committee. He earned his bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration from Bradley University.

George Schick will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Trustee Schick currently serves as a Lieutenant for the Orland Fire Protection District, which he has worked for since 1995. He also serves as President of the Orland Firefighters’ Pension Fund. For eight years prior, Mr. Schick worked as an engineer and EMT for the North Palos Fire Protection District. He earned his bachelor’s degree in management from Benedictine University.

Chuck Sullivan will serve on the Firefighters’ Pension Investment Fund.* Sullivan currently serves as Fire Captain at the City of Champaign Fire Department. He was appointed as the President of the AFFI in January of 2020 and has previously served as the Central District Legislative Representative since 2008. Sullivan has served in various Executive Board offices within his own Champaign Local 1260 and was also the AFFI 2nd District Political Education Committee Coordinator from 2004 to 2008. He was hired by CFD in 1995 and is a Captain. Sullivan joined the Air Force in 1987 and was honorably discharged in 1991. He earned his undergraduate degree from Eastern Illinois University.

How well you will live in retirement will depend on two things: your income and the local cost of living.

A new study that ranks each state based on how many of its retirees can meet a basic standard of living comes up with an interesting combination of places that are financially friendly – or not – to people over 65.

For example, who would expect Mississippi to be in the same company with California?

The cost of living in Mississippi is much lower than in California – and most states. But 31 percent of Mississippi’s retired single people and 24 percent of its retired couples fall into what the study calls the “gap” between being poor and having barely enough income to cover their basic expenses, according to a 50-state analysis by the University of Massachusetts’ Gerontology Institute in Boston.

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