FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A Fort Pierce commissioner is raising questions about city-owned property being taxed, when he says he thinks it should be tax-exempt.
This comes after City Commissioner Michael Broderick said they paid thousands in taxes for a city-owned lot at South Ocean Boulevard.
Broderick said under Florida statute, it should be tax-exempt because it's city property generating no revenue.
The property is owned by the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency, and the St. Lucie County Appraiser website said it has a taxable value of nearly $745,000.
“We're not supposed to be paying it,” said Broderick. “This is now vacant property used as a city parking lot, so it should be exempt from property taxes.”
Broderick gave WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield the property’s tax bill, showing the city paid over $18,000 in property taxes for the lot in 2025.
He said he wants to know if there’s other properties out there.
"We have a mistake like this for $18,000, what leads me to believe that there's no other properties like this that could take that number and run it up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Broderick.
Broderick said he'd like to see a full review of city-owned real estate.
“I think an internal investigation or internal audit of this one line item in the city budget is warranted,” said Broderick.
WPTV reached out to the city, which said the Fort Pierce Redevelopment Agency maintains the same tax exemption rights as the city. WPTV is still working to get a response form the St. Lucie County Property Appraiser's Office.
