Trump National Golf Club Rally In Briarcliff Manor Sets Sights On Limiting Tax Cuts

A pair of Hudson Valley legislators, Assemblywoman Sandy Galef and state Senator David Carlucci, are trying to prevent additional tax reductions for private golf courses around New York by changing the state’s tax law. The change would offer municipalities another option for calculating the taxable value of exclusive golf clubs, such as the Trump National Golf Club. Per Lohud, the pair held a rally at the edge of Trump’s exclusive club in Briarcliff Manor to highlight their proposed bill.

Back in 2015 and 2016, the club bid to slash its taxable value by 90 percent, which lawmakers claim will put more burden on the taxpaying public. The club’s attempts were revealed by a Tax Watch investigation back in 2015.

Galef believes that the club’s attempts to reduce its tax burden is a “slap in the face” to taxpayers, and Carlucci suggests that it’s vital to ensure that golf courses pay a fair amount of taxes.

Carlucci and Ossining Supervisor Dana Levenberg added that the matter is made worse by the fact that Trump hasn’t been consistent with his valuations of Trump National. For example, he stated that the Briarcliff club was worth $50 million on his filings when he ran for president, but his tax attorney claimed it was worth just $1.5 million later that same year.

“The president inflates the value when it suits him, and deflates it when it comes to paying his taxes,” Levenberg said.

A New York bill introduced last month has drawn the concerns from golf courses who fear the proposal would lead their property-taxes to skyrocket. https://t.co/S9mxizDrE5

— stargazette.com (@stargazette) April 25, 2019

The Briarcliff Manor rally drew about 60 supporters, but there were opponents too who came from the Trump complex and listened to the speeches — some of them employees. And while the club is under fire for its efforts to slash taxes, Trump National is one of the biggest taxpayers in Ossining, with property taxes of approximately $487,000 a year that go to the village of Briarcliff Manor, the town of Ossining, Westchester County, and the Briarcliff Manor schools.

Gavin Arsenault, one person in the group who came down the hill, expressed his views.

“I’ve got friends who work there, and I don’t want them to lose their jobs.”

But County Legislator Catherine Borgia believes that the newly proposed bill is a step in the right direction and will give municipal officials more power in their battles with golf courses.

“Current law allows golf courses to shift their tax burden to other taxpayers. People of means are working the system to their advantage.”

Golf clubs are currently mobilizing statewide to preserve the status quo of their properties, which contain many people of means.