St. Lucie property values slip 16%

St. Lucie County property appraiser Jeff Furst reported that values there dropped $4 billion, about 15.6 percent, in the past year, in line with earlier forecasts. The county tax roll now totals $21.6 billion. A property tax voter initiative known as Amendment 1, which increased homestead exemptions from $25,000 to $50,000, accounted for about $1.6 billion of that reduction, tax roll manager Anne Walker said. The remaining $2.4 billion drop was due to the market’s softening.