Updated October 22, 2026. Quick answer: The SURS Tier I guide says a member whose disability benefit expired due to the 50% earnings limitation may be eligible for a Disability Retirement Annuity (DRA) of 35% of the basic compensation payable when the disability began. It rises 3% each January 1, is payable for life, and stops if the member can do any substantial gainful activity, elects a regular retirement annuity or takes a refund. The statute, 40 ILCS 5/15-153.2, differs on two points covered below: it pays 65% to a police officer with a line of duty disability, and it lists five events that end the annuity.
What this covers
The Tier I guide has a section headed “DISABILITY RETIREMENT ANNUITY (DRA)”. This page quotes that section and its payment and duration paragraphs. The ordinary disability benefit that comes before it is described elsewhere in the guide and is not covered here. For the wider choices, see Illinois SURS retirement decisions and public pension retirement decisions.
What the guide says
Each row is the guide’s own wording.
| Topic | What the guide says |
|---|---|
| Who may be eligible | “If your disability benefit expired due to the 50% earnings limitation, you may be eligible for a Disability Retirement Annuity (DRA).” |
| The medical test | “One or more appointed physicians must certify that you are totally disabled and unable to perform any substantial gainful activity.” |
| Duration test | “Your disability has lasted or is expected to last continuously for more than one year; or” “Your disability is expected to result in death.” Section 15-153.2(a) states the duration test as an impairment that “can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months”. |
| Benefit amount | “The amount of your benefit is 35% of the basic compensation that was payable to you when your disability began.” That is the rate in section 15-153.2(a) of the Pension Code. Section 15-153.2(b) pays a different rate to a participant whose benefit is calculated under Section 15-153(b) (a participant in the optional retirement plan under Section 15-158.2 is excluded): a participant whose disability benefits are discontinued under clause (6) of Section 15-152 “is entitled to a disability retirement annuity of 65% of the basic compensation that was payable to the participant at the time that disability began”. Section 15-153(b) gives that benefit to a participant “for a participant who is employed as a police officer and who incurs a line of duty disability”, and it says “The changes made to this Section shall apply to participants whose line of duty disability occurred on or after January 1, 2022.” |
| Start date | “your benefit will be effective the first of the month following the expiration of your disability.” |
| Yearly increase | “Each Jan. 1, your DRA will be increased automatically by 3%.” |
| Taxes | “Keep in mind that your DRA is considered income and is subject to federal income taxes.” “However, no benefits payable by SURS are subject to Illinois state income taxes.” |
How to apply
“An Application for Disability Retirement Annuity will be sent to you approximately three or four months before your disability benefit is due to end.” “You must submit continuing evidence of your disability as often as required.” “If you are able to engage in any substantial gainful activity, you should notify SURS immediately.”
The 35% and the 3%, worked through
The guide prints no dollar example, so this one is invented to show the arithmetic, and the results are computed here, not printed by SURS. If the basic compensation payable when a disability began were $60,000 a year, the computed 35% of it is $21,000 a year. After the first full January 1 increase of 3% the computed figure is $21,000 times 1.03, which is $21,630. The guide says “The automatic annual increase (AAI) is a compounded percentage; the 3% increase is figured into your annuity amount each year.” “The first AAI will begin on the Jan. 1 following the month in which your DRA began.” That first increase is prorated, so the real first-year figure is smaller than the illustration.
What ends the benefit
“Your DRA benefit is payable for life.” The guide says the benefit stops if:
- “You are able to engage in any substantial gainful activity.”
- “You elect to receive a regular retirement annuity.”
- “You elect to receive a refund.”
The statute lists its own stop events. Section 15-153.2(d) says the annuity “shall be discontinued for a recipient of a disability retirement annuity when (1) the physical or mental impairment no longer prevents the recipient from engaging in any substantial gainful activity, (2) the recipient dies, (3) the recipient elects to receive a retirement annuity under Sections 15-135 and 15-136, (4) the recipient refuses to submit to a reasonable physical examination by a physician approved by the board, or (5) the recipient fails to provide an earnings verification necessary to determine continuance of benefits”. A refund election is not among the five events named there.
Service credit and survivor protection while on DRA
“However, you do not earn service credit since your benefit is in lieu of a retirement annuity.” “While on DRA, you are protected for death/survivor benefits” and the survivor sections of the guide apply.
What the guide does not say
The section does not say how the 50% earnings limitation on the earlier disability benefit is measured, and it prints no sample payment. Section 15-152 measures it: disability benefits are discontinued under clause (6) “when the total disability benefits paid equal 50% of the participant’s total earnings for the entire period of employment for which service has been granted prior to the date disability benefits began to accrue”. The same section adds an exception to that limitation: “If the disability was caused by an on-the-job accident, and the participant is granted workers’ compensation or occupational disease payments from the employer or the State of Illinois, the limitation in clause (6) shall not be applicable.” For disability income from an employer’s private plan, see what happens when long-term disability ends at 65.
Edition
This page reads the State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS), Traditional Member Guide, Tier I, the file SURS served on 2026-10-22. It is the Tier I guide. SURS publishes a separate Tier II guide for Tier II members, which this page does not read, and the Illinois Pension Code and your own SURS account control over this summary.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for the DRA application. The guide says it “will be sent to you approximately three or four months before your disability benefit is due to end.”
- Expecting to keep earning service credit. The guide says “you do not earn service credit” while on DRA.
- Forgetting to report a return to work. The guide says “you should notify SURS immediately.”
Related: Illinois SURS retirement decisions, public pension retirement decisions, and when long-term disability ends at 65.
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Answer againSources
- State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS), Traditional Member Guide, Tier I: surs.org
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Retirement topics: Disability: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS, Topic no. 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
Read from the pension system handbooks linked above on October 22, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a pension system or a qualified professional is the right place to confirm anything consequential.