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Federal Tax Exemption of $3,000 in medical insurance payments for police and fire retirees. Retired police officers may exempt up to $3,000 in payments made for medical insurance from their income when filing their federal tax return. In order to do this, the insurance payment must be one that is made by the employer to the medial plan. So, if you are covered under the Village of Skokie plan, you qualify.

When this provision was originally approved, it was only allowed for payments to insured products such as an HMO and did NOT include the Village's self-insurance program. The Congress has corrected this problem and you may deduct the premiums for the regular Village Plan.

This deduction needs to be taken by you on your federal tax form. The Village is not involved in any reporting of your insurance or any other issue. Page 22 of the IRS Instructions for Form 1040 covers how to claim this exemption on line 16b of the tax form. Consult your tax professional if you have any questions.

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.

The State has renewed the option to allow officers to transfer service under IMRF to the Skokie Police fund. If you have IMRF service and have not transferred that service to the Skokie Police fund, you may do so by applying to IMRF and the Skokie Police fund before December 31, 2007. The IMRF phone number is 1-800-275-4673. Application to the Skokie Police fund can be made using a simple letter to the Fund stating that the officer wishes to transfer credit.

The State will be providing final guidelines on how service is valued and transferred.