Historical Society’s final 2023 program: ‘Barent, the Miller, He Pays No Rent’

In Events, Events - Ravena, The Ravena News Herald

October 24, 2023

RAVENA-COEYMANS — This year the town of Coeymans has been celebrating the 350th anniversary of its founding. The Ravena Coeymans Historical Society’s final program of that anniversary is to be held Sunday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m.

Karen Hess will present “Barent, the Miller, He Pays No Rent,” which chronicles the life and times of a Dutch man whose name is memorialized.

Barent Pieterse Coeymans sailed across an ocean to the Dutch colony of New Netherland to serve the patroonship of the Van Rensselaer family on the Upper Hudson River. As an apprentice to the patroon’s miller, Barent learned the trade of sawing planks and grinding grain.

Filled with ambition, he possessed all the ingredients for success — skill at his trade, willingness to work hard, doggedness and shrewd business acumen. His success is evident in 125 square miles of riverfront land conveyed to him by Native people and confirmed by an English governmental patent on April 7, 1673.

Karen Hess, who has extensively researched the Coeymans family, returns to discuss another aspect of Coeymans history. Using primary source documents, she will follow the life of Barent Coeymans from the Netherlands, his life as a miller and landowner, his marriages, his family, and the many disputes he had with the Van Rensselaers for whom he worked, from whom he leased mills, and to whom he bested in his fight for land.

Join in for this final program of 2023, open to the public, at the museum at 15 Mountain Road, Ravena. And mark your calendars for the museum’s holiday open house on Sunday, Dec. 10, from 1-3:30 p.m.

The Great Migration and Riverview church

In Events, Events - Ravena, The Ravena News Herald

February 9, 2024

The Rev. Antonio Booth and the Rev. Dr. Roxanne Jones Booth, retired co-pastors at Riverview Missionary Baptist Church. Contributed photo

COEYMANS — The next program of the Ravena Coeymans Historical Society, scheduled for Feb. 11, at 2 p.m., will feature retired co-pastors of the Riverview Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev. Antonio Booth and the Rev. Dr. Roxanne Jones Booth, who will discuss the Great Migration, its impact in Coeymans and its impact on the founding of the church.

Serving as co-pastors for 13 years, the Revs. Booth became active in numerous community activities. They encouraged and were engaged in outreach opportunities, ranging from participation at the Friendship Festival to the RiverFest and to the 350th anniversary of the town.

At those activities, by partnering with TCI and Carver, the church gave free backpacks with school supplies. They organized a summer day camp for elementary school children and applied for and were awarded an Albany County Legislature grant three times to ensure nutritious lunches every day for the young children.

The Booths used summer youth employment workers as camp coaches and had them take surveys at the Coeymans Landing about the quality of life in their community.

They also served on the Coeymans Police Reform Committee, and Riverview Baptist was selected by the Unified Court System as an access kiosk for “people who may not have access to a home computer and/or internet service or need assistance in accessing the courts.”

The Rev. Antonio Booth revived the Ravena CROP walk, often raising substantial funds, with 25% of the money raised to support the town’s local food pantries.

The Rev. Antonio Booth was raised in Durham, North Carolina, graduated from North Carolina Central University with a B. A. in Public Administration, and received a Master of Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts.

The Rev. Dr. Roxanne Jones Booth grew up in Catskill, was baptized and ordained at Riverview Missionary Baptist Church, and became a three-time graduate of Howard University in Washington D.C., where she received a B. A. in Political Science, M.A. in Religious Studies and Master of Divinity. She also received a Doctor of Ministry at Gordon-Conwell, specializing in Missions and Cross-Cultural Studies. Later, she spent 10 years serving and living as a mission worker in the Kingdom of Eswatini in South Africa. And in 2015, her “African American Baptist in Mission: A Historical Guide” was published.

This program, open to the public, will be held in the Ravena Coeymans Historical Society Museum, located in the rear entrance of the Ravena municipal building at 15 Mountain Road, which is handicap accessible.

Social Security Matters: Why must I pay into Social Security when I’m collecting benefits?

In Lifestyle, Lifestyle - Ravena, The Ravena News Herald

March 7, 2024

By Russell Gloor

For Capital Region Independent Media

Dear Rusty:

I am collecting full Social Security benefits at age 72 and also working full-time. Why is the federal government still taking money from my paycheck?

I have written to Social Security experts on this issue, and they tell me “It’s the law.” That is not a good answer for me.

Approximately $4,400 was taken from my pay in 2023 for Social Security and, yes, I get a pittance of a COLA increase, but not equal to what I pay. No one has been able to fully explain the federal government’s thought process on taxing me for Social Security when I am getting full Social Security benefits. Can you?

Signed: Working Senior

Dear Working Senior:

Far be it from me to try to explain the federal government’s thought process on anything, but I can explain why those already collecting Social Security benefits must continue to pay Social Security payroll taxes while working.

It actually goes back to 1935 and the panel commissioned by President Franklin Roosevelt to create America’s Social Security program. Said panel determined how the program would be financed, Congress approved it, and FDR signed it. That methodology was essentially this:

Workers who earn (and their employers) must contribute to Social Security via payroll taxes to fund the program (we now know this as “FICA” for employees and “SECA” for the self-employed). When the program first started, certain employees and their employers were required to each contribute 1% of the employee’s first $3,000 of earnings. Obviously, those amounts have risen over the decades. And, for clarity, only certain workers originally participated in Social Security, which has also changed over the decades so that now nearly everyone who works must pay Social Security payroll taxes.

Starting in 1937 and still today, SS payroll taxes paid by those now working are used by the federal government to pay benefits to those who are currently receiving. Said another way, Social Security is a “pay as you go” program where income from those working (and their employer) is used to pay benefits to those receiving.

Payroll taxes collected aren’t put into a personal account for the worker; rather, they are used to meet current SS payment obligations. Any excess money collected is invested in special issue government bonds as reserves for future use (although current annual SS income is less than annual program costs – an entirely different topic).

So, the financing method enacted in 1935 and started in 1937 still applies — those who work and earn (and their employers) must pay into the system to fund benefit payments to those who are now receiving, and that includes those workers who are already collecting their Social Security. FYI, there was a time when, if someone worked after starting their SS benefits, they lost all of their benefits. Fortunately, that rule no longer exists, so those who are collecting SS benefits can now continue to get benefits if they work, but they must also still pay into the program from their work earnings to help pay benefits to SS recipients.

I hope this provides some insight for why you must continue to contribute to Social Security even after you have started collecting your benefits. It is a result of how the program is financed – predominantly by workers through payroll taxes on their earnings (and to a lesser extent from interest on Trust Fund reserves and income tax on Social Security benefits).

With very few exceptions, everyone who works helps pay benefits to those now receiving.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/social-security-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.