Court properly granted summary judgment for Plaintiff union in a declaratory judgment action challenging the definitions in a City ordinance. City passed an ordinance defining terms used but not defined in section 10 of the Public Safety Employee Benefits Act, specifically defining "injury", "gainful work", and "catastrophic injury". Circuit court held that the City's definitions of "catastrophic injury" and "injury" were invalid, null and void, and struck the definition of "gainful work" as superfluous. City, pursuant to its home rule authority and in accordance with section 20 of the Act, could define an administrative procedure for determining benefits under the Act, but it could not redefine the Act's substantive terms so that City would provide benefits inconsistent with the Act. City's definitions of these 3 terms were inconsistent with substantive requirements of the Act, and the ordinance was not a valid exercise of home rule authority. (McDADE and LYTTON, concurring).
Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Ordinances