Rommel Sandino, ward 5 councilmember, owns undisclosed second home in ward 1
Home is assessed for much less than its sale value; Sandino told state in August 2021 that his main residence would be in ward 1
This story has been updated to include a comment from Councilmember Sandino sent after publication. The update is at the bottom.
Hyattsville city council member Rommel Sandino (Ward 5) appears to own a house on Crittenden Street in Ward 1, but did not disclose it on his most recent financial disclosure filing. The annual filing, required of all Hyattsville elected officials, instructs respondents to report all the real estate they own, regardless of location. Sandino only disclosed owning a home in Ward 5.
The ward 1 house was purchased for $558,000 by Rommel Abraham Sandino in August 2021, two months after he joined the city council. Sandino purchased his ward 5 house in March 2017 from his parents, as reported by the Hyattsville Life & Times. The sellers in the March 2017 ward 5 house sale have the same names as the sellers in the August 2021 ward 1 house sale.
Less than six months after Sandino purchased the ward 1 house, its tax value was reassessed as part of the routine 2022 reassessment cycle in Hyattsville. State assessors concluded that Sandino’s ward 1 house was only worth $314,900, much less than what Sandino paid for it a few months prior. According to Route One Finance’s analysis of Hyattsville home sales in the last six months of 2021, Sandino’s ward 1 house had the lowest assessment-to-sale ratio at 56%. The next lowest ratio was 78%, and the median ratio was 96%. Assessment-to-sale ratios are a key accuracy metric for property tax assessments. Sandino did not respond to a question asking whether he had filed an assessment appeal.
Sandino also signed a document stating that the ward 1 house would be his “principal residence” as of August 23, 2021. The document, titled “Homeowner’s Certification of Principal Residence,” is certified “under penalties of perjury,” and is used for property tax credits. Hyattsville’s charter requires council members to reside in the ward they represent.
Based on the fully phased-in assessment value and Hyattsville’s current property tax rate, Sandino currently pays $1,983 in annual city property tax on the ward 1 home. If his assessment ratio was 96% (the median of similarly timed sales), he would be paying an additional $1,391 for a total city tax bill of $3,374.
The Hyattsville Ethics Commission reviews financial disclosures. The commission reviewed Sandino’s most recent disclosure at their September 12, 2023 meeting. Council members sign the disclosure, agreeing that “under the penalties of perjury” everything in the disclosure is “complete, true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief.”
Sandino did not respond to requests for comment before publication. After publication, Sandino confirmed in an email to Route One Finance that he owns the house on Crittenden Street in ward 1, and wrote “I also live in the Ward that I represent.”
I await Councilmember Sandino's response in the upcoming HL&T. It is both critical and healthy that the public maintain vigilance over those we elect to serve us, so this article is appropriate and as far as I can tell from my own research, accurate. In my opinion, what is at the center of this issue is an alleged incomplete Ethics disclosure form. Disclosure forms are legally required for a reason, and in this case, Schedule A (property) and Schedule E (debt) of the forms are easy to understand, and easier to fill out - contrary to what the Hyattsville mayor indicated during public comment at the videotaped 3 June 2024 Council meeting.
What are the specific wrongdoings here besides ? SDAT shows there is no Homestead Tax Credit application on file for the Crittenden property and County property tax inquiry shows no Homestead Tax Credits given on that property since 22/23, which is the first year the credit could apply for someone who bought a property in August 2021. While SDAT designates both homes Mr. Sandino owns as primary residences (which this blog post does not note), which is not permissible (as it relates to tax credit eligibility, mortgage terms, etc.), he is not illegally claiming Homestead tax credit on both homes as one might infer from paragraph 4. Hyattsville code says council candidates and members must be residents of the ward they serve, but does not define "resident," indicating that a candidate or council member who lives in multiple homes in different wards could legitimately claim to be a resident of both wards. Finally, SDAT shows that the assessed value of the Crittenden property has