Attorney General Opinions

Local government pension break

Major provisions of Public Act 83-507, which amends the Illinois Pension Code, provide a tax break for local government employees and leave intact the authority of local governments to pick up employee contributions for pension funds through salary reductions and/or offsets against future salary increases. By requiring that local governments pay directly into the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund rather than funneling half the payments through employee paychecks, federal taxes on employee contributions to the fund are deferred until the employee receives the pension. Such an arrangement had been optional until P.A. 83-507 was enacted.

Local government officials raised questions about the law because its amendatory language did not specifically authorize the pick up of employee contributions through salary reductions.

These officials feared that the new law would require local governments to pay increased pension costs while being unable to recoup these costs by adjusting employee salaries. According to the attorney general, transcripts from debate on the bill in both the House and Senate showed that the amendment was clearly intended as a tax deferment measure for local government employees with no alteration of employee and employer contributions. (File 83-025)

Improper closing of an open meeting

The litigation exception to the Open Meetings Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 102, sec. 42(h)) was improperly invoked and applied by the Springfield City Council in closing its November 8 meeting. The litigation exception allows closed meetings for the purpose of discussing litigation which is pending, probable or imminent. However, this exception must be strictly construed in favor of open meetings, since Section 1 clearly states that the purpose of the Open Meetings Act is to promote public access to governmental decisionmaking.

At the November meeting the city council was considering the annexation of certain property to the city. An attorney representing the fire protection district which served the property in question filed an objection to the annexation. The city council then accepted a motion to close the meeting to "discuss pending, probable, or imminent litigation," seeking the advice of the city attorney as to the legal ramifications as well as the potential exposure of the city to a lawsuit as the result of such an annexation. The attorney representing the fire protection district stated during the debate over the motion to close the meeting that litigation was not contemplated at that time nor was the annexation the subject of any pending litigation. After meeting in closed session for 10 minutes, the city council returned to open session and passed the annexation ordinance.

Litigation that is probable or imminent, warranting the closing of a meeting, is that which is reasonably believed more likely than not to occur, or to be close at hand. Since this was not the case, the closing of the meeting to the public was unwarranted. Even if litigation had been probable or imminent, the litigation exception could not have been used to discuss the pros and cons of the annexation but only the strategies of the litigation itself. (File 83-026)

Tax levy for new county jail

A tax may be levied for the purpose of constructing a county jail under "an act authorizing certain counties to levy an additional tax for (the housing of county offices and departments" (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 34, sec. 2154). Under section 1, counties having a population of less than 80,000 may levy a tax "for the purpose of providing housing for county offices and departments." The office of the county sheriff, who is custodian of the county jail by statute, clearly falls within the category of a county office or department. Furthermore, the county jail is a county facility, each county being required to maintain and operate a jail (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 75, sec. 1). Thus, construction of a county jail is a proper purpose for which a tax may be levied (File 83-022)

36/March 1984/Illinois Issues