A county assessor in Idaho has opened an investigation to determine how Millbrae police Chief Eamonn Allen and his family received a tax break on their Boise-area home last year, amid questions over their eligibility for the subsidy.

Ada County Assessor Rebecca Arnold on Thursday said she is looking into the circumstances surrounding the tax break on the home Allen shares with his partner in Meridian, after reading Bay Area media reports about Allen allegedly spending his work nights sleeping at the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Millbrae station.

Allen and his partner received a homestead exception — which can reduce a property’s taxable value — beginning in 2024, according to Arnold. But she is uncertain how Allen received the tax break, which can ax the taxable value of a house up to $125,000, significantly reducing a homeowner’s annual tax bill.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, a new Idaho state law requires anyone seeking such an exemption to supply a valid Idaho driver’s license. Arnold said that Allen and his partner continued to have a California driver’s license as of Wednesday, Oct. 29.

An application for the exception, which was obtained by this news organization, shows a person named Sandra Allen, 40, applied in September 2024 to receive the exception for the house in Meridian, a suburb of Boise about 11 miles from the local airport.

The application states that the home was purchased for $960,000 in June 2024, and that Sandra Allen moved in the following month. She noted still having a California driver’s license at the time of the application.

San Mateo County officials have raised alarms about the apparent 600-mile commute for Chief Allen between Idaho and the Bay Area, and whether the chief can adequately respond to emergencies in a timely manner.

Millbrae officials say the sleeping quarters were discovered during “a routine inspection” by a building inspector, and that city leaders had no prior knowledge of the spartan, bare-walled rooms, which included small beds and a desk. Nor did city leaders say they funded their construction.

“Unfortunately, one of the doors was not accessible to our staff as the locks had been replaced by the police bureau without city knowledge,” Acosta told this news organization earlier this week, adding that “using public property for personal need or convenience is also against city ethics policy.” She confirmed that a container of alcohol was found in the station.

Allen was appointed as Millbrae’s police chief in February 2023 by former Sheriff Christina Corpus, under an arrangement between the city and the county for police services. Corpus was removed this month under a new charter amendment granting supervisors authority to remove a sheriff for cause, after a hearing officer found she violated conflict-of-interest laws and retaliated against deputies — allegations she denies.

Almost every state offers some form of a homestead exception, where a homeowner can receive a tax break for declaring a piece of property their primary residence, said Kelly Snider, a professor with San Jose State University’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

California, for example, allows a homeowner to claim a $7,000 reduction on the taxable value of their primary residence, according to the state Board of Equalization.

In Idaho, if someone is found to improperly obtain the exception, county officials can recoup the tax money not collected. Subsequent violations of “an improperly or erroneously claimed” exemption can lead to misdemeanor charges, according to Idaho state law.

Greg Woods, a criminology professor with San Jose State University, said it’s becoming increasingly common for Bay Area law enforcement officers to own a primary residence outside of the state due to the region’s high housing costs.

Woods said that’s especially true for senior law enforcement officials who may be eyeing retirement, adding that despite the optics, it doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t committed to serving the 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 said.

Responding to questions about Allen’s out-of-state residency, Supervisor Noelia Corzo defended him, noting that no county policies prohibit the arrangement.

“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,” said Corzo, the vice president of the board. “I’m confident any issues with the Idaho county will be resolved without incident.

Corzo said it is “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 said. “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.”

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.

MILLBRAE, Calif. (KGO) — Mayor of Millbrae, Anders Fung tells the I-Team, “It’s just, you know, there’s a lot of information here that that is disturbing, right?” He’s calling for a thorough investigation into his police chief who lives in Idaho and slept in the police station during the workweek, until the ABC7 I-Team investigated.

This situation raises so many questions, and overnight we saw tense exchanges at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors over this issue. Once again, the I-Team’s Dan Noyes gave Millbrae Police Chief Eamonn Allen a chance to respond in person and he remained silent.

“Yeah, and that needs to be proven,” Mayor Fung said. “I still need to be able to get the facts of those allegations. And, you know, I have not heard from the chief, so that’s important.”

EXCLUSIVE: Millbrae police chief facing questions for allegedly commuting to work from Idaho

But it’s been five days since Noyes’s first report and Chief Allen was sitting there during the City Council’s public comment. He left right after, and the I-Team caught up with him at the police station’s front door.

“Eamonn, have you found a place to stay besides the police station?” Dan Noyes asked. “Do you have any comments about the report?”

Beyond the issue of using taxpayer facilities for personal benefit, this raises questions about a first responder with a 646-mile drive to work or 1.35-hour flight.

Richard Corriea, former SFPD Commander said this about the situation, “Not able to return to work on short notice in the event of an emergency is ridiculous.”

The City of Millbrae contracts with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services. Eamonn Allen acts as Millbrae police chief, but he’s also a sheriff’s captain. Tensions rose over this controversy at last night’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting.

Supervisor Noelia Corzo said, “I’m going to clarify something that I wish, frankly, our board president would have when he spoke to the press.”

Corzo criticized Board President David Canepa because he expressed concern about the issue in our original report, saying “If someone is living out of county or out of state, they have to pay for their own lodging, meaning San Mateo County is not a Holiday Inn.”

Corzo said, “I want to make sure the public knows that it is actually very common practice for most law enforcement agencies, including ours, to have sleeping quarters available to their staff.”

Canepa explained he has no issue having beds available to deputies who work a night shift and must appear in court the next morning, for example. But he has questions about sheriff’s employees with homes far out of state, who stay here on the county dime during the workweek.

Canepa told Corzo, “If you don’t believe looking into something like this is in good policy, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Supervisor Ray Mueller interjected, “All right. Okay. Order! Yes. Done, guys. Point of order, please.”

Board President David Canepa: So, I think I’ve made my point very clear.”
Supervisor Ray Mueller: “You guys have both made your points.”
Canepa: “Mr. Mueller. I’m chairing the meeting respectfully.”
Mueller: “Please, chair and then chair it now.”
Canepa: “Thank you. Respectfully. Thank you.”

In the board meeting, Supervisor Corzo did not mention the most important issue of all. How can these first responders quickly get to a catastrophic event – a mass shooting or an earthquake, for example – if they are at home out of state, hundreds of miles away? Investigations are moving forward on the city and county level.

Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.