Wy Mar-A-Lago is worthless... The stupid GOP propagandist will never tell you the truth...

Trump Disputed $26M Mar-A-Lago Valuation as Too High in 2020

Story by Ben Meiselas

Immediately after New York State court Judge Arthur Engoron granted partial summary judgment against Donald Trump, his adult kids (Eric and Don Jr.) and the business entities they control, ordering the dissolution of the Trump businesses in connection with the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud case, the Trumps and right-wing media attacked the judge as partisan and incompetent.

He is neither.

The main example they have used to attack the credibility of Judge Engoron’s ruling is not only false but it provides further evidence of Trump’s liability for the fraud he was accused of in the lawsuit. 

Trump, his adult kids, and right-wing media are falsely stating that in the summary judgment order, Judge Engoron ruled that Mar-A-Lago is valued at $18 million. They claim this is an obvious and egregious understatement of the valuation of Mar-A-Lago.

It is not. 

For example, after the ruling by Judge Engoron, Eric Trump posted that the value of Mar-A-Lago is over $1 billion. Don Jr. posted photos of nearby parcels and residential properties that are much smaller and have far less waterfront property that have much higher valuations. Donald Trump posted that the value of Mar-A-Lago is “100 times” the $18 million valuation or $1.8 billion. The New York Post ran with the following headline: “Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate worth 'at least $300M, not $18M as NY judge ruled.”

Here are the facts. The judge did not rule on the valuation of Mar-A-Lago. The judge did not usurp the role of tax assessor and make an independent valuation of Mar-A-Lago. Rather, the judge looked to and cited the undisputed facts which were provided by the Palm Beach County Tax Assessor and by Donald Trump.

The undisputed facts are that the property was valued between $18 million and $26 million during the relevant period of the lawsuit. Judge Engoron simply cited the facts presented to him.

As part of their disinformation campaign to attack the judge and judicial system and play the role of victim, here is what the Trumps don’t mention.

In 2020, Donald Trump appealed a $26.6 million valuation of Mar-A-Lago by the Palm Beach County Tax Assessor as being too high. Trump repeatedly sought the lowest possible valuations of Mar-A-Lago in appraisals since the day he acquired it.

Why would Donald Trump argue that the valuation of $26.6 million was too high? 

The answer is simple and is at the heart of New York Attorney General Letitia James civil Fraud lawsuit. The essential allegations of the New York AG civil lawsuit are that Donald Trump would fight for very low valuations of his properties to dodge taxes and then fraudulently inflate the valuations of the same properties on his statements of financial conditions to get favorable loans.

Take Mar-A-Lago, for example. 

When the Palm Beach County Tax Assessor applied a $26.6 million valuation in 2020, Trump argued the property was valued at far less as he had always done with that property. The Mar-A-Lago property is encumbered with a “trust for historical preservation” in a 2002 deed where Trump agreed “to forever extinguish his right to develop or use the Property for any purpose other than club use.”

The 2002 Deed also specifically "limits changes to the Property including, without limitation, the division or subdivision of the Property for any purpose, including use as single family homes, the interior renovation of the mansion, which may be necessary and desirable for the sale of the Property as a single family residential estate, the construction of new buildings and the obstruction of open vistas." Id. As Judge Engoron explained in his summary judgment order: “In exchange for granting the easement, Mar-a-Lago was taxed at a significantly lower rate (the club rate) than it otherwise would have been (the private home rate).”

So on the one hand, while Donald Trump deflated the valuation of Mar-A-Lago to pay less taxes by encumbering the property with historical easements and other restrictions, Trump fraudulently inflated the value of the property to get favorable loans.

Judge Engoron explained that “Donald Trump's statement of financial conditions for 2011-2021 value Mar-a-Lago at between $426,529,614 million and $612,110,496, an overvaluation of at least 2,300% compared to the assessor's appraisal” and that Trump “seems to imply that the numbers cannot be inflated because he could find a buyer from Saudi Arabia to pay any price he suggests.” 

Trump ran this same scheme of deflating the value of properties for tax assessors and inflating the value properties for banks to get favorable loans with his other properties. 

So when Donald Trump, or Eric, or Don Jr. whine that the valuation of the property is higher than the tax assessment, they are admitting to the fraud they are accused of. They fought for the lower valuations to pay less taxes. By claiming the property is valued at $1.8 billion would, given a slightly less than 1 percent property tax rate in Florida, the Trumps could owe approximately $15-18 million a year in property taxes instead of the fraction of that was paid.

And as far as the neighboring properties to Mar-A-Lago with smaller lots with higher valuations, those are unencumbered residential prosperities that must pay property taxes on the higher valuation.

So, pay up.