By Lauren Lifke
The Town of Edgewood is facing a lawsuit from Santa Fe County for allegedly breaching a contractual obligation to pay the county the full agreed-upon amount for fire and rescue services, according to a lawsuit filed Nov. 6.
In 2005, Edgewood signed an agreement to pay Santa Fe County for fire services in lieu of forming its own fire department as a municipality, according to the lawsuit. The funds were meant to go toward fire suppression and rescue services, emergency medical services and fire prevention services, the complaint reads. In September, Town of Edgewood employees said at their regular commission meeting that up until Fiscal Year 2024, the town had been overpaying beyond what was agreed upon in the outlined Joint Powers Agreement.
The Town of Edgewood and Santa Fe County entered the JPA in 2005, in which Edgewood agreed to pay Santa Fe County 0.25% of the proceeds of its gross receipts tax, according to records outlined in the complaint.
From FY 2009 through FY 2023, Edgewood paid between $200,000 and $600,000 per year, according to records in the complaint. In FY 2024, Edgewood paid just over $50,000, the complaint reads.
At the town commission meeting in September, then-Interim Town Clerk-Treasurer Victoria Archuleta said the town had been overpaying Santa Fe County in previous years. Instead of paying 0.25% of the GRT proceeds, reviews found that the town had been paying 16%, Archuleta said.
“The way that the agreement is read is one thing, and the way that they’ve been paid out is totally different,” Archuleta said.
According to the complaint, Edgewood stopped making payments under the JPA in November 2024. In April, the county manager brought up these concerns, and in May, then-Town Manager Nina McCracken affirmed the validity of the agreement and its payment obligations, the complaint alleges.
“I believe finance is almost done with all the calculations and will be working with your finance team to get this all paid in full,” McCracken wrote in an email to Santa Fe County officials on May 19, according to records shown in the complaint.
The complaint alleges that the Town of Edgewood “misrepresented to the County that it intended to comply with the JPA,” and the county is suing for breach of contract and breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, according to the complaint.
The County of Santa Fe is seeking relief in the form of damages, pre- and post-judgment interest and other costs.