Legislation providing retroactive retirement benefits to former City of Buffalo officer signed into law

On December 23, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul  announced the signing of legislation providing former Buffalopolice officer Cariol Horne, eligibility for retirement benefits. Ms. Horne was rendered ineligible to file for service retirement benefits as the result of her wrongful termination from the City of Buffalo Police Department. 

Although subsequently the termination was corrected and she was reinstated to her former postition, the termination meant she was ineligible for retirement benefits. The legislation, Chapter 800 of the Laws of 2021, grants Ms. Horne a retroactive retirement date of August 5th, 2010for the purposes of determining her retirement benefits from the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System.

Former Village of Bemus Point clerk-treasurer pleads guilty to embezzeling village funds

On December 22, 2021, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt and Chautauqua County Sheriff James B. Quattrone  announced that former clerk-treasurer of the village of Bemus Point, Jennifer Jaegar, pleaded guilty to the theft of more than $58,000 in village funds.

Jaeger, 39, of Bemus Point, admitted that from 2015 to 2020 she wrote village checks to herself using forged signatures of officials and had village officials sign blank checks, which she then cashed.

“Former Clerk-Treasurer Jaeger disregarded the distinction between public funds and her own pocketbook,” DiNapoli said. “Thanks to our partnership with Chautauqua County District Attorney Schmidt and Sheriff Quattrone, we have held her accountable for her violation of the public’s trust and recovered the stolen funds.”

“This is not a victimless crime,” said District Attorney Jason Schmidt.  “The Village of Bemus Point, like many of our local municipalities here in Chautauqua County, is engaged in an every-day battle to service its residents with precious little money.  Every dollar stolen is a dollar not spent on the community.  Here, we secured full restitution to the Village for the money which was stolen.  The plea resolution was conditioned on full repayment up front, and this is the only reason why a reduction in the charge was put on the table, to guarantee that Bemus Point gets all its money back now, and in one shot, rather than face the uncertainty of pursuing repayment through the civil judgment enforcement mechanisms available under the law.  This was our number one concern.”  

Jaeger pleaded guilty to petit larceny, a Class A Misdemeanor, in Town of Ellery Court and was sentenced to pay back $58,100 in restitution to the village.

The arrest was a result of a joint investigation between the State Comptroller’s Office, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office, and the Chautauqua County Sherriff’s Office.

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Since taking office in 2007, DiNapoli has committed to fighting public corruption and encourages the public to help fight fraud and abuse. Allegations of corruption and, or, fraud involving taxpayer money may be reported to the Comptroller by calling the toll-free Fraud Hotline at 1-888-672-4555, by filing a complaint online at investigations@osc.state.ny.gov, or by mailing a complaint to: Office of the State Comptroller, Division of Investigations, 8^th Floor, 110 State St., Albany, NY 12236.

Exhausting administrative remedies in processing a Freedom of Information Law request

Supreme Court's order and judgment granted the agency's motion pursuant to CPLR 7804(f) to dismiss the pending action for failure to exhaust administrative remedies reversed by the Appellate Division, on the law, reinstated, and remitted to the Supreme Court for further proceedings.

Internal Revenue Service posts alert addressing "Required Minimum Distributions: Age 72 (or 70 ½)"

Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are minimum amounts that you must withdraw from your IRA or retirement plan account each year after you reach age 72 (70 ½ if you reach 70 ½ before Jan. 1, 2020). In a workplace retirement plan, you can delay taking RMDs if you continue working and you’re not a 5% owner of the employer. IRS rules always require you to take RMDs from traditional IRAs, and SEP, SIMPLE, and SARSEP IRAs even if you continue working.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (SECURE Act), made several changes to RMDs in 2020 and 2021.  

2020 RMD Waiver: Required minimum distributions (RMDs) were waived for 2020 for IRA and workplace retirement plan account holders, including individuals who:

• Reached age 70 ½ in 2019 and had their first and second RMDs due in 2020, or
• Had their first RMD due on April 1, 2021, for 2020.

2021 RMD: The waiver of RMDs as part of the CARES Act for 2020 was NOT extended to RMDs for 2021. IRA account holders and participants in retirement plans are subject to RMDs for 2021.

If you reached age 70 ½ in 2019, your RMDs due in 2020 were waived. You have a 2021 RMD due by Dec. 31, 2021, based on your account balance on Dec. 31, 2020.

If you reached age 72 in 2021,(and didn’t reach 70 ½ in 2019) your 2021 RMD is due by April 1, 2022, based on your account balance on Dec. 31, 2020. Your 2022 RMD is due by Dec. 31, 2022, based on your account balance on Dec. 31, 2021.

If you’re still employed by the plan sponsor, and not more than a 5% owner, you can delay RMDs from that workplace retirement plan until you retire. RMDs are always required from traditional IRAs, SEP, SIMPLE and SARSEP IRA plans even if you’re still employed.

If you left your job in 2021and rolled over your workplace retirement plan account into your IRA, the RMD from your IRAs for 2021 won’t be affected by the rollover, but you may have an RMD due from the retirement plan.   

• Amounts rolled over to your IRA from a workplace retirement plan in 2021 don’t affect your IRA RMD calculation since 2021 RMDs are based on your IRA account balances on Dec. 31, 2020.
• If you have a 2021 RMD due from your workplace retirement plan, it cannot be rolled over to your IRA.

RMDs: IRA Beneficiaries

Beneficiaries of IRA accounts must follow special distribution rules. The SECURE Act changed how and when beneficiaries must take distributions when the account holder dies after 2019. Under the CARES Act, beneficiaries do not have to take RMDs for or during 2020.

For a 2019 death, life expectancy distributions, if applicable, would generally be required to start by the end of 2020. Since the CARES Act waived all 2020 RMDs, to use the life expectancy option, generally you must begin taking distributions by the end of 2021. If you don’t begin taking life expectancy distributions by the end of 2021, you’ll be required to take a complete distribution under the 5-year rule.

For distributions based on the 5-year rule for deaths prior to 2020, you do not count 2020 as one of the 5 years. You would have until the end of the 6th year following the year of death for deaths in 2015 through 2019.

For a 2020 death, life expectancy distributions, if applicable under the SECURE Act, would generally be required to start by the end of 2021.

More information

For more detailed information on RMDs, see:

IRS.gov/RMD

Publication 590-B, Distribution from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)

Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income