How to Move a Donald Trump Golf Course to a Public School

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Former President Donald Trump and his business empire have always been aggressively fighting to come out on top and this time, the sucker on the other end of the deal is a public school district.

For seven years, Trump National Golf Club Westchester just north of New York City has battled with local government to lower property tax charges while simultaneously increasing its value elsewhere by millions- million. Then in August, encouraged by another victory of golf clubs in court, the Trump club forced locals to make a deal and reduce its estimated value by a third.

That means the Trump club can claim overpaid taxes, so local governments are borrowing money. But of all the local entities stuck paying fat refund checks worth about $ 850,000, the worst hit was the small suburban Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District. The public education system consisting of an elementary, middle, and high school got the largest tab, valued at $ 588,155.12.

A local official involved in the process told The Daily Beast that the schools would not make any cuts, instead just passing on the higher cost to people who actually live in the area.

It’s annoying that a scoundrel won’t pay taxes. My tax is higher because his tax is lower, said the official, who was not allowed to speak in public.

It’s a small zone, so locals are more likely to feel it. With only 2,399 parcels on books in the village of Briarcliff, taxpayers will spend an extra $ 245 on average next year depending on the value of their property.

This is important in the sense that this should be done by all other tax-paying residents, and most of them will not approve a golf course that they will eventually have to subsidize, says Fernando Gonzalez, the tax assessor for the local. town of Ossining.

Anything related to Trump is disgusting and/or corrupt, said Marie Chalita, a homeowner at Briarcliff Manor who told The Daily Beast she was not happy with paying for it.

This deal with Trump is why the Briarcliff school board was forced to raise the budget by 1 percent in October, when it added more than half a million dollars to the judgments and lawsuits. Prior to that, the school system allocated only a small $ 20,246 to incoming lawsuits.

The massive tax refund is enough to pay up to 10 new teachers ’salaries, according to numbers listed in the union’s recent labor contract.

The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.

As previously reported by The Daily Beast, this Trump golf club has filed annual grievances since 2015 aimed at drastically reducing the property tax charge against every local entity involved: Westchester County, the town of Ossining, the village of Briarcliff, and public schools of Briarcliff.

For example, in 2016, the company challenged its government -assessed value of $ 15.1 million, arguing that the real value was actually $ 7.5 million. Local governments refused to act and let the incumbent U.S. president reduce his tax bill while claiming in presidential revelation forms that his club was actually worth at least a whopping $ 50 million.

But the water receded in April 2021, when some of these local governments lost tax value against another nearby golf course, the Sleepy Hollow Country Club.

New York State Judge Bruce E. Tolbert ruled that there is no mandate to value golf courses or country clubs using any particular techniques, allowing club members only to minimize the value of property- its property. Judicial opinion has established something of a precedent, prompting municipal governments to think about defending a defense against stingy golf clubs in court.

This one decision completely changed how golf courses are now taxed, said Stephen P. Dewey, Ossining’s attorney representative in its dealings with the Trump golf club. Eventually, the town was stuck paying a $ 20,444 refund.

When the Ossining board voted to approve the settlement in July, town supervisor Dana A. Levenberg explained that the move was the prudent and financially responsible course for the town.

This avoids what will be a long and costly litigation, as well as the possibility that the town will not prevail in the litigation where the town will be worse off in the short and long term. Also, although both sides gave up during the negotiations, the settlement amounts were closer to those shown by the town than the golf club, he said at the meeting.

On Aug. 13, that same judge signed a settlement agreement between Trump National Golf Club LLC and the Ossining and Briarcliffs school districts. The deal reduced the assessed value from approximately $ 15 million down to $ 9.5 million.

It was a defeat that locally elected representative in the state legislature, Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, had tried to avoid for years. In 2019, he introduced a bill aimed at valuing golf courses based on the maximum and best use of the property rather than its current use. Galef felt that the system would more accurately reflect the richness behind the regions with an 18-hole golf course, located in wooded landscapes with beautiful, mountainous streams and rolling hills bordered by greenery. mountain.

Galef told The Daily Beast that he was disappointed that Trump had finally won his tax fight.

I feel bad about it. I want people to always pay their fair share in taxes, he said. He was the one who thought of all the ways to get around something. If anyone actually looked at his business books, they would probably be surprised.

That is exactly what some New York prosecutors are doing today. Last year, Ossining received a subpoena from Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah for her investigation into Trumps volatile valuations for the golf course. That effort reflects a long and ongoing civil investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James into alleged tax evasion and bank fraud. There’s a joint criminal investigation by Manhattan district attorney and AG James, who has already arrested Trump Organization and chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg for alleged tax fraud.

It’s not a drop in the bucket. Its big money for a school district, even a school district with great resources. The arrangement doesn’t mean we’re happy about it, said another local government official, who preferred to remain anonymous.

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