Would this mean that ALL the residents of Palm Beach county would have to pay property taxes based on market value instead of tax appraised value? Anyone who owns a house knows there's a big difference.
No, this does not mean "that ALL the residents of Palm Beach county would have to pay property taxes based on market value." It means that Mar-a-Lago is either wildly under-taxed by the county or wildly overvalued by Trump.
Trump is on record saying Mar-a-Lago market value is $1.8 billion. According to the tax assessor's office the appraised value is $18 million.
Per Google Bard,
The ratio of the appraised value of property to the market value in Palm Beach County, FL is approximately 90%. This means that the appraised value of a property is typically 90% of the price at which it would sell in the open market.
There are a few reasons for this. First, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office uses a variety of methods to appraise properties, including the sales comparison approach, the cost approach, and the income approach. These methods are designed to estimate the fair market value of a property, but they are not perfect.
Second, the property market in Palm Beach County is very competitive. This means that properties often sell for more than their appraised value.
Finally, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office is required by law to cap the annual increase in the assessed value of homestead properties at 3%. This can lead to situations where the appraised value of a property is significantly lower than its market value.
If Trump's market value claim is accurate, the appraised value should be somewhere around $1.62 billion ($1.8 billion x .9 = $1.62 billion), and taxes should be paid on that amount.