Richard Ravitch was sworn in as New York’s liutenant governor in 2009, to fill a vacancy and help solve the city’s dire fiscal crisis. Ravitch, a wealthy businessman, was gracious enough to forgo the $151,500 annual salary.And in an example that no good deed goes unpunished, he now owes money for working for no money:
While working on the memoir earlier this year, he received a letter from the state comptroller. It was not a thank you note for serving, much less without pay. It was a bill.What did Ravitch do?
“The value of your personal use of a state provided vehicle and chauffeur services and taxable meals when traveling are fringe benefits reported as income on your Form W-2,” the letter began.
Those $9,455 in fringes were subject to $723.31 in Social Security and Medicare taxes, which the state paid on his behalf and was now seeking to collect …
“I paid it,” Mr. Ravitch said Monday, adding philosophically: “There was a certain asymmetrical irony about it, but I hope it helps the budget gap.”
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