ICYMI: NYC Bill Would Force Trump To Release His Tax Returns

CHELSEA, NY — A New York City council member from Manhattan is trying to compel President Donald Trump to release his tax returns by crafting city legislation that targets Trump's golf course in the Bronx.

Council Member Corey Johnson announced on Wednesday that he plans to introduce legislation into the City Council that would force Trump to release his tax returns. Johnson's legislation would take aim at the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, the Bronx golf course opened by the Trump Organization in 2015. Johnson, who represents neighborhoods including Chelsea, Greenwich Village and Times Square, told the New York Daily News that he expects to introduce the proposal next month.

Johnson said his forthcoming proposal would take advantage of the terms of Trump's lease with the city. It would require executives who are named in entities holding city contracts and pay $0 to the city to disclose their personal tax returns. These specific parameters apply exactly to Trump Golf Links, which bears the Trump brand name and sits on public property. Under the conditions of the Trump Organization's cushy 20-year lease with the city, the company doesn't have to pay any money to the city during the first four years of the golf course's operation. In addition, the city agreed to foot the bill for the course's water and sewage costs under the terms of the lease.

A round of golf at Ferry Point will cost you more than anywhere else in New York City: It costs $146 for an NYC resident to play during the week, and $175 on weekends.

The NYC City Council can require more transparency from organizations that receive generous term from the city, according to a statement from Johnson's office.

"The choice should be simple: make your returns public or relinquish your contracts with the City of New York," Johnson said in a statement. "When you’re profiting from a City contract that doesn't return a dollar back to the City and your name is branded all over the property, transparency is vital."

Trump broke with decades of tradition in refusing to release his tax returns during the presidential campaign. At the time, he claimed he could not release them due to an ongoing audit. Protestors around the country plan to take to the streets on April 15 to demand that the president's tax returns and financial interests be disclosed.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Patch.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images News/Getty Images.