Why is the President suing Florida officials over his Trump golf club — again?

[REUTERS, 2018]

In what has become an annual tradition, President Donald Trump is once again suing the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser over the valuation of his Trump National Golf Club. Publicly, he boasts of massive success. But in the court papers, he demands that county officials in Palm Beach lower their valuation of the Jupiter, Florida property.

From the Palm Beach Daily News:

The suit marks the fifth year in a row that Trump has disputed the property tax bill for the 131-acre course along Donald Ross Road. Even as he fights the county’s $19.7 million estimate, Trump’s financial disclosures in 2016 and 2017 list the value of Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter as “over $50 million.”

Based on the property appraiser’s valuation, the Palm Beach County Tax Collector sent Trump a bill for $398,315. Trump responded with a lawsuit — and a wire transfer for $296,595.01, which his Tampa-based attorney described as “a good faith estimate” of the sum Trump really owes.

While Trump’s three-page suit doesn’t say how much he thinks the course should be worth, Jupiter Golf Club pays property taxes at a rate of 2 percent. So by claiming he was overcharged by $101,720, Trump asserts that the property appraiser overvalued the course by more than $5 million.

The latest suit, filed in December, comes as Trump faces allegations of profiting from the presidency and profligate spending on golf weekends.

David Cay Johnston, author of the newly released 'It’s Even Worse Than You Think,' told the Palm Beach Daily News that Trump’s luxury resorts obviously benefit from his political position——and said it's “unseemly” for a sitting president to boast about how successful his businesses are while simultaneously suing local officials to cut his tax bill and claiming they're… not worth as much as estimated.

“Trump tells voters his properties are hugely valuable but claims they are worth far far less for property tax purposes, which unfairly shifts to others the burdens of government,” Johnston told the paper.

[via @Fahrenthold. PHOTO: The entrance area of Trump National Golf club is seen in Jupiter, Florida, U.S., February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria]