More McHenry County Blog

The most recent edition contains these fascinating paragraphs under the headline

GARS Prescribed Salary Rate

Highest salary as defined by the Illinois Pension Code is “For a participant who is a member of the General Assembly on his her last day of service: the highest salary that is prescribed by law, on the participant’s last day of service.”

In every even-number year, the Compensation Review Board is required to submit a report to the General Assembly which recommends compensation levels for members of the General Assembly, statewide elected officials, judges, and department heads. If the report is not rejected by both chambers of the General Assembly, the compensation levels recommended in the report are put into effect.

The March 2006 Report of the Compensation Review Board was not rejected by the 94th General Assembly. The 2006 Report recommended no salary increases for FY 2007 for offices in the legislative and executive branches covered by the report. The report recommends that the COLAs [Cost of Living Adjustments] that were not granted in FY03-FY05 (13.1%) be applied to salaries before the FY 2007 COLA (3.2%) is granted on July 1, 2006. This is the highest salary prescribed by law for the GARS members.

Even though the 2006 Report was not rejected by the 94th General Assembly, the recommended COLAs were not granted because they were not funded in the FY07 state budget. However, GARS members who retired in Fyo7 will still receive a retirement benefit based on the highest salary for annuities.

The General Assembly may still reject the 2006 Report within 30 session days of the report being submitted to the General Assembly. If the report is ultimately rejected by mid-February, retirement benefits would be based on the actual salary rates received by the member.