A county assessor in Idaho has opened an investigation to find out how Millbrae police Chief Eamonn Allen and his household obtained a tax break on their Boise-area residence final 12 months, amid questions over their eligibility for the subsidy.
Ada County Assessor Rebecca Arnold on Thursday mentioned she is wanting into the circumstances surrounding the tax break on the house Allen shares together with his accomplice in Meridian, after studying Bay Space media studies about Allen allegedly spending his work nights sleeping on the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Millbrae station.
Allen and his accomplice obtained a homestead exception — which may cut back a property’s taxable worth — starting in 2024, in response to Arnold. However she is unsure how Allen obtained the tax break, which may ax the taxable worth of a home as much as $125,000, considerably lowering a home-owner’s annual tax invoice.
As of Jan. 1, 2025, a brand new Idaho state legislation requires anybody in search of such an exemption to produce a sound Idaho driver’s license. Arnold mentioned that Allen and his accomplice continued to have a California driver’s license as of Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The applying states that the house was bought for $960,000 in June 2024, and that Sandra Allen moved within the following month. She famous nonetheless having a California driver’s license on the time of the appliance.
San Mateo County officers have raised alarms concerning the obvious 600-mile commute for Chief Allen between Idaho and the Bay Space, and whether or not the chief can adequately reply to emergencies in a well timed method.
Millbrae officers say the sleeping quarters had been found throughout “a routine inspection” by a constructing inspector, and that metropolis leaders had no prior data of the spartan, bare-walled rooms, which included small beds and a desk. Nor did metropolis leaders say they funded their building.
Allen was appointed as Millbrae’s police chief in February 2023 by former Sheriff Christina Corpus, beneath an association between the town and the county for police companies.
Virtually each state provides some type of a homestead exception, the place a home-owner can obtain a tax break for declaring a chunk of property their major residence, mentioned Kelly Snider, a professor with San Jose State College’s Division of City and Regional Planning.
California, for instance, permits a home-owner to say a $7,000 discount on the taxable worth of their major residence, in response to the state Board of Equalization.
In Idaho, if somebody is discovered to improperly get hold of the exception, county officers can recoup the tax cash not collected. Subsequent violations of “an improperly or erroneously claimed” exemption can result in misdemeanor fees, in response to Idaho state legislation.
Greg Woods, a criminology professor with San Jose State College, mentioned it’s changing into more and more frequent for Bay Space legislation enforcement officers to personal a major residence outdoors of the state as a result of area’s excessive housing prices.
Woods mentioned that’s very true for senior legislation enforcement officers who could also be eyeing retirement, including that regardless of the optics, it doesn’t essentially imply they aren’t dedicated to serving the general public.
“They have to decide whether or not they choose to lead by example, and whether or not they choose to be part of the community they represent,” he mentioned.
San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo defended Allen on Thursday and forged him as “yet another person who has been caught in the crosshairs of former Sheriff Corpus’ retaliation against those who stood up against her unethical term in office.”
“I can’t speak to Idaho’s laws, but nothing in our county statute prohibits Allen from living out of state while serving the people of San Mateo County,” mentioned Corzo, the vp of the board. “I’m assured any points with the Idaho county will likely be resolved with out incident.
Corzo mentioned it’s “very common in law enforcement for, at least in the Bay Area, for employees to live hours away or even out of state.”
“I would be surprised if you could find a county in the Bay Area that didn’t have some of their employees, law enforcement employees living out of state,” she mentioned. “What I can tell you is that the sheriff’s office of San Mateo County has zero policies saying that that’s inappropriate. And so Captain Allen has violated zero policies.”
Corpus was faraway from workplace this month after retired choose James Emerson, performing as a listening to officer, discovered that she violated conflict-of-interest legal guidelines and retaliated towards deputies. Her removing by the board — a primary in California — capped off months of investigations into complaints of an alleged inappropriate relationship between her and her chief of workers, together with allegations she used racist and homophobic slurs within the office.
