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Officer: Search for barracks ambush suspect was like ‘needle in a haystack’

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<p>WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) &#8212; Commissioners in a Florida county are so tired of spending money on President Donald Trump&#8217;s frequent visits to his Mar-a-Lago resort that some are suggesting a special tax be levied against the property if the federal government doesn&#8217;t reimburse its costs.</p><p>Palm Beach County spends more than $60,000 a day when the president visits, mostly for law enforcement overtime &#8212; almost $2 million since January. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says the county was expected to spend $250,000 during Trump&#8217;s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the president&#8217;s sixth trip to his Winter White House in the 12 weeks since his inauguration.</p><p>County Commissioner Dave Kerner has suggested turning Mar-a-Lago into a special taxing district and imposing a levy on the resort to pay the president&#8217;s security costs. Because Mar-a-Lago is incorporated as a club, it pays lower property taxes than hotels. It also gets a tax break because Trump surrendered development rights after he purchased the property from the estate of cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post for $10 million in 1985.</p><p>The 500 members pay $14,000 annually in dues and the initiation fee was recently doubled to $200,000. Forbes Magazine estimates the club is now worth $150 million.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re very honored to have the president here, but at the same time, his travel here is such high frequency he&#8217;s not visiting Palm Beach County &#8212; he&#8217;s governing from it,&#8221; Kerner told Money magazine recently. &#8220;Whatever our priorities are, the taxpayers didn&#8217;t pay this money to us to protect the president.&#8221;</p><p>Kerner did not return numerous calls from The Associated Press to his office.</p><p>The sheriff believes the federal government will eventually reimburse the county, but can&#8217;t be certain.</p><p>&#8220;I had a personal conversation with the president in February and he understands,&#8221; Bradshaw said. &#8220;There is a system in place and, unfortunately, that involves Congress &#8230; and that is not an easy thing to navigate through. I am sure they will get around to it.&#8221;</p><p>Local governments aren&#8217;t the only ones complaining. No solution has been found for the 28 business owners at Lantana Airport, a small field for propeller planes about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Mar-a-Lago. The Secret Service shutters it every time Trump visits Mar-a-Lago because agents believe the 350 flights it handles daily pose a security risk.</p><p>Marian Smith, who owns a flight school, says she has lost almost $100,000 because of the closures. A banner-towing company that operates from the airport says it has lost over $40,000 in contracts.</p><p>Jonathan Miller, the contractor who operates the county-owned airport, said this week that he believes a compromise will be worked out with the Secret Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies that would allow the airport to operate with restrictions during presidential visits.</p><p>&#8220;The FAA has a strong incentive to work with us and help get some funding that will put a system in place that will appease the Secret Service,&#8221; Miller said.</p><p>The cost of Trump&#8217;s visits divides local residents, with the schism often falling along political lines. Trump&#8217;s supporters say any money spent by the county is recouped through added visitors lured by the frequent exposure and his visits show he cares about the area.</p><p>&#8220;The fact that he comes down here, the fact he is involved in the community to this extent even though he is the president, I think that&#8217;s great,&#8221; said Julian Detwiler, who operates produce stands at local farmers markets. &#8220;There are costs associated with everything. It doesn&#8217;t cost the country or the community more for him to (visit) than lots of other things we do. It keeps the economy going.&#8221;</p><p>The president&#8217;s critics say the visits illustrate his hypocrisy as he frequently slammed President Barack Obama&#8217;s trips, even though they were less frequent and didn&#8217;t burden any single community.</p><p>&#8220;Trump is costing this area so much money, a hell of a lot of money, and he doesn&#8217;t seem to give a damn,&#8221; said Bob Brink, a novelist and retired local journalist.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The U.S. Coast Guard patrols in the intracoastal waterway in front of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, Friday, April 7, 2017, in Palm Beach, Fla. The president's frequent visits to his resort have cost Palm Beach County taxpayers about $2 million. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_AP_17097835741746.jpg</photo0><caption0>The U.S. Coast Guard patrols in the intracoastal waterway in front of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, Friday, April 7, 2017, in Palm Beach, Fla. The president's frequent visits to his resort have cost Palm Beach County taxpayers about $2 million. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By TERRY SPENCER</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

County in Florida considers special tax for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago visits