Cash flow problems, business incompetence, declining business, or all of the above — and with the Trumpies, I’m betting on “all of the above” — are possible reasons the Trump Organization is suddenly late on property tax payments in at least five states.
From the Washington Post:
This spate of missed deadlines was out of character for the Trump Organization, which receives hundreds of property-tax bills every year. Previously, records show, it had a record of paying them on time.
But records show that between November and April, Trump’s company did not pay property taxes on time in California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York.
In Florida, the company also missed a Nov. 30 deadline to pay its taxes early and claim a 4 percent discount. For the first time in at least nine years, the company waited until January to pay taxes on the Mar-a-Lago club, two mansions and three golf courses. That wait increased the company’s bills by $23,500, records show.
Via a spokeswoman, the company responded in typical Trump fashion: lying brazenly. “We have always paid our real estate taxes on a timely basis, and to say otherwise is totally disingenuous,” the statement said.
Darn that reality. Darn those records! Totally disingenuous!
The other properties where payments were missed included:
- A Los Angeles golf course
- The Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, N.Y.
- The Trump-owned golf club in Colts Neck, N.J.
- 326 parcels owned in a Chicago riverfront skyscraper
So, in addition to tax policy, foreign policy, economic policy, diplomacy, the rule of law, empathy, having a sense of decency, and being able to speak English coherently, let’s add “paying property taxes on time” to the list of things El Trumpolio cannot do.
News reports have previously noted that the Trump Organization carries a lot of debt, and that it had relied on infusions of cash from new projects and sales to keep up with a steady stream of bills and expenses. (Such as here and here.) Apparently that’s been harder to do as president. Plus, the toxic way he’s governing is driving business away from at least some of his existing properties.
(Pistoleto notes in a diary with a title that needs to be changed that the Trump Chicago tower’s ground floor is vacant in an otherwise thriving area.)
We have enough reasons for alarm without adding this, but we may have a cash-strapped president facing the collapse of his personal and business empire just as the walls of legal and public judgement are closing in as well.
What would — or wouldn’t — this “sad, embarrassing wreck of a man” do in response?