Sacramento councilman’s family claims tax exemption on Granite Bay house, records show
Sacramento City Councilman Sean Loloee’s wife receives a tax break on her Granite Bay house that people commonly claim for their family’s primary residence, Placer County tax documents show.
Loloee, who is facing questions over whether he lives in his Sacramento City Council district, told The Sacramento Bee last week that the Granite Bay house has been vacant for two years and that he and his family have consistently maintained a residence in Sacramento.
On Thursday, he told CBS 13 that his wife and children have lived in the Granite Bay house since August. The family has owned the house since 2016.
The Placer County property tax bill for the fiscal year that ends June 30, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, shows Loloee’s wife Maryam Seirafi is approved for a homeowners exemption for the $1.4 million house on Birch Meadow Court.
Under California law, property owners can only claim the exemption for one property at a time, indicating it is “the principal place of residency.” The exemption lowers the taxable value of a home by up to $7,000.
Loloee has not claimed the homeowner exemption for the house in Sacramento’s Hagginwood neighborhood where he says he lives, a separate property tax bill for the fiscal year that ends June 30, obtained by The Sacramento Bee, shows.
Loloee has not applied for the exemption since buying the house in 2019, a representative from the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office said Friday.
A representative for Loloee declined to comment for this story.
California homeowners typically apply for the exemption for their primary residence, said Marilynn Mackey, who’s been a real estate broker in Sacramento since 1988.
“I look up owners all the time, and when the owners live in the property, I rarely see that they do not claim a homeowners exemption,” Mackey said.
Loloee has faced questions about his residence since his December 2020 swearing-in ceremony. He appeared to take his oath of office in the Granite Bay home, which has high ceilings and distinctive features that can be seen in online property listings.
Loloee earlier this month denied that he was sworn-in at the Granite Bay house. He said it was a friend’s house in East Sacramento.
The Sacramento Bee this month visited his house on Nogales Street in the Hagginwood neighborhood three times. Residents on the street said they did not know Loloee and a man at the house identified himself as a renter living in the home with his son.
Loloee does not receive mail at the Sacramento house, according to the Sacramento County assessor’s office. Mail for the property goes to his business office in North Natomas.
Mail for the Granite Bay house is delivered to the Granite Bay house, a representative at the Placer County Assessor’s Office said.
Sacramento requires that City Council members reside in their elected districts. Mayor Darrell Steinberg has asked Loloee for a public report on where he moved and when.
In California, if a city council member does not reside or have a domicile in the district they represent, the council could vote to declare the seat vacant, and the member would be replaced, or any individual could file a “quo warranto” lawsuit, said Fred Woocher, an election law attorney. A person who votes from a place they don’t live could face criminal charges for perjury and voter fraud, Woocher said. If convicted, the person would lose the council seat.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 1:52 PM.
