Sec. 6.03. DEATH BENEFIT ANNUITY FOR SPOUSE OF MEMBER KILLED IN LINE OF DUTY. (a) The death benefit annuity of a surviving spouse of a member of the fund who is killed in the line of duty is governed by this section.

(b) The board shall consider the finding of a municipality to which this Act applies that a member was killed in the line of duty as a guideline for its determination in applying this section. On an application for survivor's benefits by a surviving spouse or dependent child, the fund shall pay the normal benefits payable under Section 6.02 of this Act. When a benefit is payable under this section, the death benefit annuity shall be recomputed, applying Subsection (c) of this section, and any deficiency payment shall be paid to the eligible beneficiaries.

(c) Notwithstanding the formulas for computing the total amounts of annuities otherwise provided by this Act, if a member is killed in the line of duty, the member's surviving spouse and dependent children are entitled to a death benefit annuity equal to the total salary of the member at the time of death. Rules provided by this section relating to qualification and disqualification for and apportionment of benefits apply to a death benefit annuity computed under this subsection. A death benefit annuity computed under this subsection is divided in the manner described by Section 6.02 of this Act and is subject to the same cost-of-living adjustments that apply to pensions for service retirement.