By Nathan Brown
The Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE COUNTY, N.M. — Santa Fe County and the town of Edgewood are edging closer to an agreement to ensure the town keeps coverage for fire and emergency medical services.
Both sides reached “principles of agreement” Tuesday on a deal under which the county fire department would continue to respond to emergency calls in the Santa Fe County portion of the town, which also extends into Torrance, Bernalillo and Sandoval counties, officials said in a statement.
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The deal would preserve the existing payment structure under which the town repays the county for revenue lost as a result of the town’s incorporation.
The new joint powers agreement, which still must be drafted and legally vetted, would need to be approved by the town and county commissions and the state secretary of finance and administration to take effect.
“This new agreement lays the groundwork to ensure continued services while also recognizing community preferences and supporting the Town’s long-range planning needs,” Edgewood Mayor Mike Rariden said in a statement. “Working together through cost-sharing and technical support services brings long-term security and added value to our constituents.”
Santa Fe County had been poised to stop providing emergency services for the southern Santa Fe County town at the end of June, following a legal battle in which the county maintained Edgewood had stopped paying for fire and EMS responses under a 20-year-old agreement, while town officials contended the county was overcharging. The county sued the town last year over delinquent payments; the termination of the existing agreement occurred as part of the settlement of that lawsuit.
The potential loss of services spurred anger from many town residents, who packed into meetings earlier this month to express worries about safety and potentially skyrocketing insurance rates, and to slam local officials over the impasse.
“I’m afraid for response times, for fires and for ambulances,” town resident Jean DeMarte said at a meeting earlier this month. “To stop paying them, I mean, that’s just plain old stupid.”
Under the proposed agreement, the county and town would keep the payment structure that has existed since 2005, in which the town pays the rough equivalent of the 0.25% fire excise tax that unincorporated areas pay, as well as impact fees equivalent to what the county collects on new development in unincorporated areas.
The town paid the county about $660,000 for coverage in fiscal year 2023, the last full year of payments; a county spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry Tuesday afternoon seeking information on what the estimated payments would be now.
The new agreement would guarantee payment by having the town disburse payments to the county immediately upon receipt of state gross receipts tax revenue. The deal would stay in effect indefinitely, with either party able to leave it with five years’ notice.
“The payment structure under the old and new potential joint powers agreement is conceptually sound and not unfair to the Town, which is primarily responsible for providing fire and EMS services within municipal boundaries,” County Manager Gregory Shaffer said in a statement. “The new agreement would ensure that Town residents, visitors, and property owners within the County continue to receive first-rate fire and EMS services from the County’s dedicated, highly capable and trained firefighters.”
The proposed agreement would also commit the county to supporting a town study to evaluate whether and how Edgewood should create its own fire department — including, if the state fire marshal approves, “offering the Town serviceable surplus apparatuses during the term of the new agreement,” so it can begin building its own fleet.
The town would pay $2.27 million for technical consultation and support, and any equipment, with an initial $50,000 payment plus 222 monthly interest-free payments of $10,000.
Town commissioners are expected to consider the new agreement at a meeting next week, while county commissioners plan to listen to public feedback and consider action at a May 1 special meeting.
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