The Skokie Police Pension Fund provides a pension to a member who retires or becomes disabled, or to a survivor (e.g., spouse) of a member who dies.


An officer is eligible for benefits at retirement at age 50 if he or she has earned 20 years of creditable service or retirement at age 60 if between 8 and 20 years have been earned.

• Pension with 20 Years of Service. An officer age 50 or more with 20 years of creditable service is entitled to a pension equal to 50% of the salary attached to the rank on the police force at the time of retirement. For years of service over 20 years, the officer will receive an additional 2-1/2% of salary for each year over 20 years, to a maximum pension of 75% of salary. For example, an officer retiring after 26 years would receive a pension at age 50 or later of 65% of salary.


• Pensions with Less than 20 Years of Service. An officer age 60 or older having at least 8 years but less than 20 years of service is entitled to a pension equal to 2-1/2% of salary for each year of service. An officer with only 1 year of service but less than 8 is also entitled to this benefit if he or she is receiving a retirement pension based on at least 8 years of service from another Illinois police pension fund, excluding Chicago.


• Increases in Pensions After Retirement. An officer who retires before age 55 is entitled, upon attaining age 55, to an increase in pension equal to 3% for each year the officer has been receiving pension (or a prorated portion of 3% for partial years). Then, on each following January 1st, the officer will receive an additional increase of 3% in the pension then being received. For example, an officer retiring at age 52 will receive an increase of 9% at age 55, 3% for each year pension has been paid.

An officer who is already age 55 or older at the time of retirement will receive a 3% pension increase after one year of retirement and each January 1st thereafter.


A pension will be paid to an officer, regardless of age, if the officer is physically or mentally disabled for service in the police department. Different levels of benefits are paid depending upon whether or not the medical condition is the result of a line-of-duty disability.

• Line-of-Duty Pensions. An officer who becomes disabled as a result of sickness, accident or injury incurred in or resulting from the performance of an act of duty is entitled to either (1) a pension equal to 65% of salary or (2) the service retirement pension that the officer has earned by virtue of his or her years of service, whichever is higher. Examples: An officer with 10 years of service who is disabled in the line-of-duty would receive a pension of 65% of salary. An officer with 28 years of service similarly disabled would receive a pension of 70% of pay (the amount he would receive if he retired under normal circumstances). There is no age requirement for a disability pension.


• Disability Pension - Not in Line of Duty. An officer who becomes disabled as a result of a cause other than performance of duty is entitled to a pension of 50% of salary.


• Increases in Disability Pension. The monthly pension of an officer who retires on disability pension is increased each January 1st of the year following his or her 60th birthday, by 3% of the original pension for each year that the officer has received pension. In each following January, the officer receives an additional 3% increase of the original pension.

The monthly pension of an officer who retires on a line-of-duty disability pension is also increased each January 1st of the year following his or her 60th birthday by 3% of the original pension. However, the officer on a line-of-duty disability pension may receive the annual increase of 3% each January 1st prior to age 60 if (i) the officer has 7 years of service credit from active duty, (ii) the period that pension has been received, when added to his active duty time, totals 20 years, and (iii) he or she is earning no other income from gainful employment.

• Qualifying For Disability Pension. An officer must be found to be disabled by the Board of Trustees upon examination by 3 physicians selected by the Board and the examination of other evidence of disability as determined to be necessary by the Trustees. The Board of Trustees will review the evidence of disability at a formal hearing with legal counsel to the Board present. An applicant is entitled to have legal counsel present also and may introduce any other relevant evidence of disability. Once retired on disability, the retiree must produce evidence of continuing disability each year, until attainment of age 50.

The burden of providing eligibility for a disability pension lies with the applicant.

NOTE: Under certain circumstances, line-of-duty disability pensions may be reduced if the officer receives certain benefits under the worker compensation laws of the State.

• Benefits for Short-Term Disability. Benefits for disabling conditions which are not expected to result in permanent and total disability are payable under the Village's sick leave policy. Questions on these benefits should be referred to the Village's Personnel Office.

Pensions are payable to the surviving spouse of a retiree or active employee (or in some circumstances payable to children age 18 or less or legally dependent parents when there is no surviving spouse) as described below. Note that there is no minimum age requirement for a survivor pension.

• Spouse Surviving a Service or Disability Pension Recipient. When an officer who is receiving a pension dies, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive the pension that the officer was then receiving at the time of death. If the retired officer was not yet 50 years old at the time of death, the survivor is entitled to the pension that the officer would have received upon attaining age 50.


• Spouse Surviving an Active Police Officer / Death Not in the Line-of-Duty . Upon the death of an active officer who has earned at least 20 years of creditable service, the survivor will receive a pension equal to the amount that the officer had earned by virtue of his or her years of service. For example, the spouse of an officer who died after 22 years of service would receive a pension of 55% of salary.

Upon the death of an officer having at least 10 years but less than 20 years of service, a pension of 50% of salary is payable.

Upon the death of an inactive participant (i.e. a person who has worked long enough to vest for a benefit and has left the police department before retirement age), a pension is payable to the survivor in the amount that the officer had earned by virtue of years of service.

Upon the death of an officer having less than 10 years of service, no pension is payable. The estate of the officer is entitled to a refund of the officer's pension contributions to the Fund.

• Spouse Surviving an Active Police Officer / Line-of-Duty Death. Upon the death of an active officer who dies as a result of sickness, accident or injury incurred and resulting from the performance of an act of duty on or after January 1, 2002, who without having begun to receive either a retirement pension or disability pension, is entitled to 100% of salary attached to the rank held by the deceased police officer on the last date of service.


• Increases in Survivor Pensions. The law does not provide for an annual increase to the pension received by a survivor. However, from time to time, the Illinois General Assembly and Governor may approve legislation to increase the minimum pension paid to survivors.

The pension benefits are partially funded by contributions made by active officers. The contribution rate is 9.91% of salary (excluding overtime). The Village has adopted a so-called "employer pick-up" of contributions which allow the contributions to be made on a tax-deferred basis. (Note that contributions made prior to January 1, 1983 were made on a non-tax deferred basis, which will result in a very small tax reduction at the time of retirement for officers employed prior to that date, in accordance with IRS regulations). Taxation of pensions by state governments is governed by state law. Illinois does not currently tax pension payments.

An officer who does not receive a pension from the Pension Fund is entitled to a refund of contributions made. Such a refund is eligible for a tax-deferred "rollover" to an Individual Retirement Account or other qualified pension plan which accepts such contributions.


Generally, creditable service is time served as an officer in the Village of Skokie. Furloughs and suspensions in excess of 30 days are not counted, but leaves of absence due to illness or injury are counted. If a disabled officer returns to active service, up to 3 years of the period during which a disability pension was received are counted towards creditable service, with some restrictions. Creditable service also includes service in the military forces of the United States entered into while an officer is on active police duty. Such military service is limited to 5 years. Creditable service may also include time served as an officer in a police-related association. Under any circumstances, earning of creditable service requires that the officer pay to the Fund the contributions that would have been paid had he or she been in actual police service.

• Re-Entry. The pension laws contain provisions under which retirees may re-enter police service and earn additional creditable service in the Skokie Police Pension Fund. Refer to the statutes for additional information or contact a member of the Board of Trustees.

Transfer from One Illinois Police Fund to Another Fund. The pension laws also allows credited service for service in another Illinois police pension fund (excluding Chicago) under 40 ILCS5/3-110-d If an officer has at least two years of service in another department prior to transferring to the Skokie Police Department, the officer may arrange for that service to be transferred for credit in the Skokie Police Pension Fund. The pension fund from which the officer is transferring will make a payment to the Skokie Police Pension Fund in the amount of the officer's contributions made to the fund that he or she is leaving, 6% annual interest on those contributions, and a second amount that is also equal to the officer's contributions and interest (which is assumed to be the municipality's share). However, if the Skokie Police Pension Fund finds that the amount transferred is less than the true cost of the credited service being transferred, the officer must pay an additional amount from personal funds so that the true cost of the transferred service is received by the Skokie Police Pension Fund.

An officer wishing to transfer credit may defer his or her decision until such time as a determination is made as to whether or not the officer will have to pay money to the Pension Fund from personal funds. Note that a calculation of the amount due must be performed by a qualified actuary retained by the Fund. Because of the cost involved, the Skokie Police Pension Fund will only pay for such a calculation to be made if so requested by an active Skokie police officer. This calculation will not be performed on behalf of applicants to become Skokie police officers who are not yet Skokie police officers.

The Skokie Police Pension Fund will cooperate fully with any city, village or police pension fund from another Illinois jurisdiction should a former Skokie officer desire to transfer credit to another pension fund covered under the Illinois statutes related to portability.

Transfer to and From the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. For a brief period, Illinois law allowed transfer of service to and from a police fund and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). The opportunity for transfer of service terminated at the end of 2005. Officers who transferred service from the IMRF to the Skokie Police Pension Fund were given credit in the police fund commensurate with the amount of service earned in the IMRF and the amount of money transferred to the Skokie Police Pension Fund.

Other Transfers. Illinois law also includes other provisions for transfer of service from a police pension fund to another Illinois public employee fund. Please refer to the statute for additional information.

• "Self-Managed Plans" Under the Illinois Pension Code. Officers who review the pension statutes will note references to an option to participate in a self-managed plan instead of the defined benefit pension plan described in this Guide. Note that such self-managed plans have not yet been established by the State of Illinois.


• Member Data for Participation. To insure coverage and benefits under the Pension Fund, officers should apply for participation and complete a member data sheet within three months of being hired. This form is attached to this Guide. If one is not attached, it is available from the Police Pension Board of Trustees or the Training Division of the Skokie Police Department.


• Application for Pension and Other Forms. An application for pension benefits and other important forms are available from this website. If the forms are not accessible, they are available from the Police Pension Board of Trustees.


• Governance. The Fund is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of two officers elected by active officers, a retiree elected by retirees, and two citizens of Skokie appointed by the Mayor. The terms of the two active officer trustee positions run for two years and are currently staggered (one expires each year), Elections are held on the first Tuesday of April. The Trustees have a fiduciary responsibility to govern the Fund in a prudent manner within the requirements and limitations of Illinois law. Meetings are held quarterly and are open to the public except when personnel matters are discussed, as allowed by Illinois law. Trustees may not be paid for service as Trustees to the Fund.


• Administrative Review. Final administrative decisions of the Board of Trustees are subject to judicial review under the Illinois Administrative Review Law.


• Role of the Illinois Division of Insurance. The Division of Insurance is authorized under the statutes to create rules governing pension administration, to regulate public pension funds, to audit public pension funds, and to report to the Legislature as to the valuation of these funds. They may be contacted at the Public Pension Section, Illinois Division of Insurance, 320 W. Washington St., Springfield, IL 62767.


• Role of the Village of Skokie. The Skokie Village Treasurer is the Treasurer of the Police Pension Fund and is responsible for the collecting of funds, disbursing of pensions, and custodianship of invested funds. The Mayor and Village Board levy local taxes to support police pensions. Although the Skokie Police Pension Fund is an autonomous entity, the Pension Board of Trustees by practice adopts Village policies regarding accounting records, personnel policies, budgetary practices, training reimbursement, expense reimbursement, and similar rules and regulations. The Fund and the Administrative Division of the Skokie Police Department and the Office of the Village Manager attempt to coordinate any pension matters when possible to serve the best interest of active and retired officers pursuant to the Illinois pension laws.


• Role of Professional Consultants. To assist the Board of Trustees in carrying out their duties, the Fund retains a qualified actuary, certified public accountant, investment managers and independent legal counsel. In the interest of cost control, the actuary and certified accountant are hired in cooperation with the Village of Skokie and the Skokie Fire Pension Fund.


• Address for Service. Skokie Police Pension Fund, 8350 Laramie, Skokie, IL 60077.