New Legislation Signed Into Law; New Documentation Supports GASB 68 Reporting; Employers: Check Your Phone; August Board Meeting Highlights; August Employer Reminder

August 31, 2017


In This Issue: New legislation signed into law New documentation supports GASB 68 reporting Employers: Check your phone August Board Meeting Highlights August Employer Reminder	Quick Links: Visit IMRF's website Log in to Employer Access Employer Digest email archive

New legislation signed into law

The Governor has signed several new laws related to IMRF:

House Bill 2966 was signed into law August 18, 2017, and is now Public Act 100-0139. Effective immediately, this bill makes two changes to the IMRF Article of the Illinois Pension Code. First, it updates the qualifications section for the IMRF Board of Trustees to ensure that Board candidates are vested, regardless of the tier in which they participate. Additionally, it corrects incorrect terminology referenced in the Accelerated Payment statute. Effective August 18, 2017.
House Bill 3070 was signed into law August 18, 2017, and is now Public Act 100-0148. This bill clarifies current IMRF practice to allow members to make one payment for service credit purchases after termination, as long as a valid application is received while the member is still active. This legislation codifies current IMRF practice and is effective immediately. Effective August 18, 2017.
House Bill 3122 was signed into law August 22, 2017, and is now Public Act 100-0274. This bill requires all governing body members, whether elected or appointed, to be under the 1,000 hour standard. The change would apply to new members only. Effective January 1, 2018.
House Bill 418 was signed into law August 24, 2017, and is now Public Act 100-0281. In the provisions applicable to IMRF, this bill prohibits members who first become a participating employee on or after January 1, 2019, from opting into IMRF SLEP as a police chief. Effective January 1, 2019.
House Bill 815 was signed into law August 25, 2017, and is now Public Act 100-0354. This bill allows municipalities without an Article 3 or 4 fund that have at least 50 full-time police officers and/or firefighters to allow, by resolution, to participate in IMRF SLEP. The resolution would terminate if the municipality did establish an Article 3 or 4 fund, as applicable. Effective August 25, 2017.
Senate Bill 701 was signed into law August 25, 2017, and is now Public Act 100-411. This bill excludes vehicle allowances from the definition of reportable wages for members who first begin participation on or after the effective date. This also excludes vacation payouts from the accelerated payment calculation, but only if the payment was made in the final three months of the FRE period. Effective August 25, 2017.

Read more about the passed legislation in General Memo 670.

New documentation supports GASB 68 reporting

To better assist employers who report using GASB 68, IMRF has introduced two new documents:

The GRS vs. IMRF Reconciliation Adjustment Schedule. This information helps your auditors reconcile the most commonly found variances between the amounts listed in the GASB report provided by IMRF's auditors and the Schedule of Changes in Fiduciary Net Position. Log in to Employer Access to download this document from the "Display Annual Documents" section.
Reconciliation Tables A and B. Employers who report using GASB 68 will use this Excel Spreadsheet to complete your reconciliation. This document is available for download at www.imrf.org, on the GASB 68 Resource Page, under the "Employers" tab.

Employers: Check Your Phone

Occasionally, IMRF staff may need to contact an Authorized Agent or Web Assistant. In many cases, however, the telephone number on record with IMRF is not in service and the employer cannot be easily reached.

IMRF employers are reminded to keep their contact information current. Frequently log in to Employer Access to make sure your employer's phone number is current and adjust as needed.

August 2017 Board Meeting Highlights

At the August 18, 2017, Board Meeting, the Board:

Heard a report ranking IMRF highly on a customer service benchmarking study.
Provided Springfield an update on IMRF's Illinois-based investments.
Heard an update on executing 2017-2019 Strategic Plan objectives.

Read the complete report in the August 2017 Board Meeting Highlights.

The next regularly scheduled Board meeting will be held September 8 at 9 AM at IMRF's Oak Brook office. The Board will be in executive session for the discussion at this meeting.

August 2017 Employer Reminder:

Recertification of elected positions,
certification of appointed positions

In response to two recently adopted IMRF Board Resolutions--Board Resolution 2017-02-13 (effective February 13, 2017) and Board Resolution 2017-05-10 (effective May 10, 2017)--employers are reminded to assess if they are required to recertify elected positions and certify appointed governing body positions.

Once these positions are determined to be eligible for IMRF participation, your employer's governing body must adopt a resolution affirming the position's hours before September 1, 2017, and file it with IMRF. If the position does not meet the required hours, the official may not participate in IMRF.

Read more about recertifying elected positions and certifying appointed positions in the August Employer Reminder.

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