Trump got tax break for saving acres of forest

State attorney general investigating potential property value inflation

Five years ago, Donald Trump promised to preserve more than 150 acres of rolling woodlands in a New York suburb prized for its luxury homes and rural tranquility.

In exchange for setting aside this land on his estate known as

Seven Springs, Trump received a tax break of $21.1 million, according to court documents.

The size of Trump’s tax windfall was set by a 2016 appraisal that valued Seven Springs at $56.5 million — more than double the value assessed by the three Westchester county towns that each contained a piece of the property.

New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of Seven Springs as part of the conservation easement on the property, according to filings in the case in August. The probe also scrutinizes valuations, tax burdens and conservation easements at Trump’s holdings in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.

Trump’s son Eric, who now helps run the Trump Organization, sat for a deposition in the case Monday.

The Seven Springs appraisal, obtained by The Washington Post, appears to have relied on unsupported assertions and misleading conclusions that boosted the value of Trump’s charitable gift — and his tax break, according to two independent appraisers who reviewed the document at The Post’s request.

The appraisal was written by Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm that has worked with Trump.

The firm established the value of the 212-acre estate by assuming a future buyer could build and sell 24 mansions on the land, without providing evidence that such a subdivision would meet regulations.

A spokesman for Cushman & Wakefield said: “We do not comment on ongoing litigation.”