New Member Information

On behalf of the Retirement Fund Board of Trustees and staff, welcome. As a new employee, you are automatically a member of this Retirement Fund.

The information below pertains specifically to employees hired after January 1, 2011 (Tier II) unless labeled otherwise. Employees hired after this date are generally what are referred to as Tier II Participants.

Definitions:

Tier I Participant: An employee of the District who first became a member before January 1, 2011 under any reciprocal retirement system or pension fund established under Chapter 40 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes other than Judges, General Assembly, police and fire pension plans. This includes any Commissioner who fits the criteria above who elects to participate in the Fund within 90 days after becoming a Commissioner.

Tier II Participant: An employee of the District who first became a member on or after January 1, 2011 except for those who were members of any reciprocal retirement system including the IMRF, Municipal Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, Laborers' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, County Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund of Cook County, Forest Preserve of Cook County Employees Annuity and Benefit Fund, Chicago Park Pension, State Employees Retirement System, State Universities Retirement System, Illinois Teachers Retirement System, or Chicago Teachers Pension Fund prior to January 1, 2011. This includes any Commissioner who fits the criteria above who elects to participate in the Fund within 90 days after becoming a Commissioner.

What to Expect on Your First Day

1) Fund staff will begin to establish your membership tier. If you did not participate in an Illinois public pension system prior to January 1, 2011, you will participate in Tier II. Others may qualify for Tier I. Service with the funds in the table below prior to January 1, 2011 will qualify you for Tier I benefits. Fund staff will contact the other fund(s) with which you have or had service and get written confirmation that you are eligible for Tier I benefits.

County Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund	Municipal Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund
Forest Preserve District Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund	Park Employees' Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund	Public School Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund
State Teachers' Retirement System	State Employees' Retirement System of Illinois
State Universities Retirement System	Laborers' Annuity & Benefit Fund

Fund staff will contact any fund with which you claim to have service to verify your participation and tier membership in that fund. If the other fund confirms Tier I membership, you will be deemed Tier I. Otherwise, you will be a Tier II Participant.

2) You will complete forms. You will be asked to complete and sign the following forms listed below. When you click on the form name, the form will open in a new window.

Employee Information Sheet. All current non-retired members should have an updated employee information form on file. This form advises the Fund where you live, your marital status, whether you have children and how many, if you have military service, if you have worked under another public pension fund in Illinois, and whether you have worked at the District before. All of this information is valuable in helping us to counsel you regarding retirement benefit eligibility.
Beneficiary Form. It is important for all members and annuitants to have a current designation of beneficiary form on file. This form indicates to whom the Fund should make payment of any refund due should you die and have no surviving spouse. Further details are available on the form.

3) You will be asked to provide original documents as follows:

Your birth certificate, passport, or certificate of naturalization,

And, if applicable:

Your spouse's birth certificate, passport, or certificate of naturalization,
Government issued marriage certificate, and
Any divorce decrees, first and last pages.

Copies of your original documents will be made and the originals will be returned to you.

4) You will be provided a summary of your MWRD Retirement Fund benefits. Here are the highlights:

Contributions

For Tier II participants, a statutory 9% will be deducted from the bi-weekly salary on a pre-tax basis. This is your pension contribution.
For Tier I participants, a statutory 12% will be deducted from the bi-weekly salary on a pre-tax basis. This is your pension contribution.

Retirement Annuity for Tier II Employees

An employee can retire as early as age 62 with 10 years of pension service credit.
If you retire between age 62 and 67, the retirement annuity is discounted 0.5% per month for each month you are under age 67 unless you have 30 years of service.
There is no discount of the retirement annuity if the employee has reached age 67 or has 30 years of service and is at least age 62.
The retirement annuity (a.k.a. pension or retirement benefit) is calculated as a percentage of a eight-year final average salary. The accumulation rate is 2.2% per year for the first 20 years of service and 2.4% per year for each year in excess of 20 years. The maximum retirement annuity is 80% of the eight-year final average salary.
Retirees receive a cost of living increase starting the January 1 occurring either on or after the attainment of age 67 or the first anniversary of the annuity start date, whichever is later.
That cost of living increase will be the lesser of 3% and one-half the annual unadjusted percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the consumer price index-u for the 12 months ending September prior to the increase. The increase will be calculated as a percentage of the originally granted annuity.

Spouse Annuity

A spouse annuity may be payable to your spouse upon death. When the death occurs before retirement:

If you you die while an active employee, have at least 36 months of service from the date of entry, and you are married at the time of death, your spouse is eligible for a surviving spouse annuity.

This annuity is effective the first of the month after the employee's death.

To calculate the surviving spouse annuity, the Fund first calculates the annuity to which the employee would have been eligible had he retired on the date of death. No discount is applied to the base annuity regardless of the deceased employee's age at the time of death. That amount is then multiplied by the spouse factor, 66 2/3%.

Surviving Spouse annuitants receive a cost of living increase starting the January 1 occurring either on or after the first anniversary of the annuity start date.
That cost of living increase will be the lesser of 3% and one-half the annual unadjusted percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the consumer price index-u for the 12 months ending September prior to the increase. The increase will be calculated as a percentage of the originally granted annuity.

When the death occurs after retirement:

If you were married at the time of retirement and remain married until the time of death or if you were married at the time of retirement and divorced subsequent to retirement but were married for at least 10 years at the time of retirement, then your spouse will be eligible for a retirement annuity.
The surviving spouse annuity is effective the first of the month after the retiree's death.
The spouse's annuity is 66 2/3% of the employee annuity at the time of death.
Surviving spouses receive a cost of living increase starting the January 1 occurring on the first anniversary of the annuity start date.
That cost of living increase will be the lesser of 3% and one-half the annual unadjusted percentage increase (but not less than zero) in the consumer price index-u for the 12 months ending September prior to the increase. The increase will be calculated as a percentage of the originally granted surviving spouse annuity.

For full information regarding surviving spouse annuity benefits eligibility or calculations, see the spouse annuity information sheet.

Child's Annuity

A child's annuity is payable upon the death of an employee if the employee has completed thirty six (36) months of service from the date of employment.
The annuity is payable to age 18 (age 23 if a full-time student).
The annuity is $500 per month if one parent is alive. The family maximum is $5,000.
The annuity increases to $1,000 per month if neither parent is living. The family maximum is $5,000.

Disability Benefits

For more information on disability, refer to the Ordinary (non-work related) Disability or Duty (work related) Disability pages.

Resignation

Many employees continue District employment to retirement. However, if you are terminated or if you resign, you will be entitled to a refund of contributions, provided you are under age 62 or have less than 10 years of service. More information on resignations and refunds can be found on the page labeled "resignation."