By A Treasure Coast essay by Paul Janensch
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wqcs/local-wqcs-917378.mp3
Fort Pierce, FL – Almost all home owners on the Treasure Coast saw the value of their property decline in 2009. That goes for celebrities, too. Take Canadian singing star Celine Dion for example. The estate on Jupiter Island she owns with her husband was valued by Martin County for tax purposes at $10.8 million in 2009, down from 11.1 million in 2008. The Jupiter Island places owned by professional golfers Tiger Woods and Greg Norman also lost value for tax purposes from 2008 to 2009. So did the spread owned by actor Burt Reynolds in Hobe Sound. The tax valuation numbers were published by Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, which took them from public records. Of course, a property's taxable value can vary from its market value. In St. Lucie County, the riverfront home owned by Wayne Huizenga, former owner of the Miami Dolphins and the Florida Marlins, took a hit. So did the oceanfront home in Indian River County owned by singer Gloria Estefan and her husband. I suppose I should feel sorry for these property owners. But I noticed that the 2009 property tax bill for the Tiger Woods place was $464,000 and change. That's more than the price we paid for our condominium. For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.
Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.