EDGEWOOD, N.M. — Santa Fe County officials have rejected a revised ordinance proposed by the Town of Edgewood to fund fire and emergency medical services, warning that the town’s unilateral changes violate their Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) and state law. The ongoing dispute threatens to leave Edgewood residents without primary fire and EMS coverage from the county by July 1.
In a May 29 letter, Santa Fe County Attorney Walker Boyd expressed frustration to Edgewood Town Attorney Young Jun Roh after the town published a substitute ordinance without county approval. Boyd noted that the town abandoned a draft ordinance that its own attorney had originally proposed, which had been “carefully vetted across multiple rounds of correspondence” between the two lawyers earlier in May. Without the county attorney’s approval of the ordinance, the agreement for continued services cannot take effect.
Boyd’s letter outlined four major deficiencies in Edgewood’s published ordinance: it recharacterizes the town’s financial pledge as a “contractual funding mechanism” rather than a legally binding bond, introduces an unauthorized 20-year automatic sunset clause, delays payment distribution of payments to the county each month, and completely omits the required signature block for the county attorney’s approval. Boyd requested the town return to the mutually negotiated draft to ensure the stability of the services.
As reported by the Route 66 Independent in April, the initial payment dispute between the two governments ended a 21-year agreement, forcing a settlement to prevent an abrupt end to services. In response to the county’s letter, Edgewood Town Commissioner Mike Rariden submitted an agenda request for a special meeting on June 2, 2026, to address the county’s concerns, warning that a failure to compromise could lead to a “lapse or complete lack of Fire/EMS services”
A citizen group has launched a petition drive to force an election to disincorporate the town based partly on the failure of commissioners to maintain fire service. The town commission meets at 6:00 p.m. tonight in Edgewood Town Hall.