Donald Trump loves his time golfing and schmoozing with fellow rich people at Mar-a-Lago, but his presence there is not doing Palm Beach County any favors.
Palm Beach County officials are warning about the ballooning costs associated with paying time and a half to sheriff’s department deputies to secure the president’s exclusive members-only club — a pricetag that is already more than $1.5 million — and county commissioners are pleading with federal officials to step in and relieve the financial burden.
“I would never consider a proposal that says we’re not going to use our county resources when the president’s here. It’s our patriotic duty,” said County Commissioner David Kerner. “Its just unfair that burden should be borne alone.”
Kerner has proposed an inventive solution: levying a “special benefit” fee on Mar-a-Lago to recoup some of the cost. The alternative, according to Kerner, is raising taxes for everyone or making cuts to the budget.
Trump has personally assured the Palm Beach County sheriff that he understands the costs his visits are imposing on the sheriff’s office and that “I’m going to take care of law enforcement,” which is an assurance worth … absolutely nothing.
In addition to straining the local government budget, Trump’s visits are tough on some local businesses. A small airport near Mar-a-Lago can’t operate on weekends when Trump is there:
“The weekend flights are 33 percent of my business,” [the owner of a flight school at the airport] said. “I’m surviving, but I don’t know how much longer. I lose $8,500 a weekend when we’re shut down. For a small guy like me, that’s a lot of money.”
Jonathan Miller, who operates the airport, told the Associated Press last month that a helicopter company has decided to move elsewhere costing Lantana more than $440,000 in annual rent and fuel sales.
Area residents also complain of having commercial flights redirected over their homes starting at 5:30 AM.
But Trump’s got to have his rich people-and-golfing time, so screw Palm Beach County.