Friday, December 14, 2018
Welcome to Employer Digest, your monthly source for IMRF news and information to help you stay connected with IMRF.
Stanish Elected as Executive Trustee
At today's meeting, the IMRF Board of Trustees certified the results of the 2018 Executive Trustee election. The winning candidate is Sue Stanish.

Executive Trustee Sue Stanish was re-elected having served on the Board since 2014. She is currently director of finance for the Naperville Park District. She will serve a five-year term as Executive Trustee, from January 1, 2019, through December 31, 2023.

Read more about the 2018 Board election in General Memo 680.
IMRF Board Reduces Assumed Rate of Return
At its meeting today, the IMRF Board of Trustees lowered the amount it assumes IMRF will annually earn on its investment portfolio. At the recommendation of actuarial consultant GRS Retirement Consulting, the Board lowered the assumption from 7.5% net of fees to 7.25% net of fees, effective January 1, 2019. This change is consistent with market trends and actions taken by most public pension funds across the nation.

For more detail, review a presentation that GRS made to the Board at its November meeting here .
County Board Member Recertification Required
One of the requirements for a county board member to be eligible to participate in IMRF is that county boards must pass a resolution finding that the position of county board member will require 600 or 1,000 hours (depending on the county's IMRF hourly standard) of work in a 12-month period. This resolution must be adopted and filed with IMRF within 90 days after each election in which a county board member is elected.

The recertification of county board members elected or re-elected this past November is due to IMRF no later than Monday, February 4, 2019. Failure to adopt the required IMRF participation resolution by this date will cause the entire county board to become ineligible to participate in IMRF, and IMRF participation will end for those board members currently participating in IMRF, effective the last day of February.

County board members first elected after August 26, 2016, are not eligible for IMRF participation, regardless of whether the county board recertifies the position of county board member. Nonetheless, even if the only county board member recently elected is ineligible to participate in IMRF, the county board must recertify the position of county board member if the work required of the position exceeds the county's hourly standard. Failure to do so will cause the entire county board to become ineligible to participate in IMRF, regardless of each county board member's election date.

To further maintain IMRF eligibility, participating county board members are also required to file time sheets with the county's fiscal officer detailing time spent on official government business during each month of the year. County board members who fail to file the time sheets for more than two consecutive months will become ineligible and IMRF participation will be terminated.

You can read more about county board member eligibility in IMRF Board Resolution 2016-08-12. You may also contact IMRF at 1-800-728-7971 with questions about the recertification process.
January Closing Date for 2018 Payroll
Your employer's December 2018 wage report is due no later than Tuesday, January 22, 2019. You must submit your employer's final 2018 wage report and any adjustments by this date for IMRF to include the information in your employer's 2018 Member Statements of Account and 2018 GASB statements, available in early 2019. You should also resolve any outstanding pending wages by January 22.

The most accurate way to submit member wages and contributions to IMRF is through Employer Access from the "Wages and Contributions" section. Wage reports and adjustments received after January 22, 2019, may not appear until your employer's 2019 Member Statements of Account or 2019 GASB statements, scheduled for distribution in early 2020.

Please contact IMRF at 1-800-728-7971 with questions about reporting wages to IMRF.
IMRF Receives GFOA Award for 2017 CAFR
The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has awarded IMRF with a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). With this recognition, IMRF has received the award 44 times and holds a top-ten spot among all-time award recipients.

The CAFR provides detailed financial information about IMRF and is available on IMRF's website.

Read the full announcement here.
November 2018 Board Meeting Highlights
On Friday, November 16, 2018, the IMRF Board of Trustees:

  • Reviewed report on investment assumed rate of return
  • Finalized employer contribution rates for the 2019 calendar year
  • Approved IMRF's 2019 budget

You can read the full November 2018 Board Meeting Highlights here.
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