President Donald Trump believes his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., is worth at least $50 million, according to public financial documents documents filed in 2016 and 2017.
However, he doesn't want to pay property taxes to Palm Beach County at that flaunted figure. No, he wants to pay property taxes and less than one-third that figure.
As the Palm Beach Daily News reports, Trump has sued the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser over the valuation of his Trump National Golf Club for the fifth-consecutive year. This year, the appraising group values Trump National Golf Club at $19.7 million, on which Trump would be expected to pay the county property tax rate of about 2 percent, or $398,315.
Trump, though, responded to the bill with a check forĀ $296,595.01. The paper reports Trump's attorney called this a "good faith estimate" of the property's value, as well filing the suit in December. Doing some simple extrapolation, Trump values this Jupiter club, then, at $15 million, or about $5 million less than the country.
Haggling over high-value property worth and corresponding taxes is nothing new for Trump. He routinely does this not only with his Florida clubs, but he also does this in his home state of New York as well.
Trump has indicated he believes the higher valuation of his properties above and beyond the land itself is a factor attributed to the intrinsic value of the Trump brand. Therefore, it would seem he separates that from the value of the property itself. However, that hasn't stopped Trump and The Trump Organization from haggling over thousands in yearly taxes.
Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter does have one of the largest per-acre valuations -- $150,382 per acre in 2017 -- in Palm Beach County, so there may be something to Trump's suit. However, he's lost two prior court decisions in these suits, with the County's valuation standing in each case, as the County has successfully argued the club's profitability -- almost $12 million in 2016 revenue -- backs the valuation.