Town of Palm Beach Will Finally Get Presidential Visits Repaid

The Town of Palm Beach will finally get Presidential visits repaid. Funds spent during President Donald J. Trump’s visits dating as far back as his electoral campaign, up until his inaugural date, are in the process of being repaid.

According to U.S. Representative Lois Frankel, the Town of Palm Beach will receive $24,343 as its portion of the million-dollar cost generated by Palm Beach County. The repayment comes as only a fraction of the total $41 million approved by Congress to reimburse presidential visits to New York and New Jersey as well.

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office received a disbursement of $964,982, which was the largest payout. A repayment of $11,355 went to the West Palm Beach Police Department, and $2,683 was paid to Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.

Since President Trump’s inauguration, he has visited the Town of Palm Beach for a stay at his Mar-a-Lago residence seven more times; for a total of nine visits. It is estimated that nearly $300,000 has been spent, placing a large dent in the police budget of approximately $15 million. Public Safety Director Kirk Blouin stated, “It was a lot of money for a small police budget like ours.” A lot of which will not be eligible for recoupment, if the associated costs were incurred while the President was not physically in town.

Town of Palm Beach Will Finally Get Presidential Visits Repaid

So far, the visits have cost County residents around $4 million in taxes. The Town has budgeted $168,000 for Trump-related expenses and costs, but anticipates some cost-savings this fiscal year, by re-using last year’s signage used to alert commuters of road closures during presidential visits; which topped out at almost $100,000.

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At the time this article was written, the amount of costs associated with Trump’s visits to his New York and New Jersey residents had not been determined. In order to receive their portion of the $41 million, local governments will have until October 31^st to apply.