as an intermediary for the board, Vicki Sears, senior vice president of Regional Community Management for Associated Asset Management, said the board reviewed the topics and chose not to comment. “The ‘dispute’ was four years ago so not recent at all,” Sears wrote in an email. In subsequent messages, she reiterated the board would offer “no comment at this time,” and directed questions about fire service to the City of Maricopa. The city referred questions back to Sears. She declined to identify board members or make them available for comment, writing, “the board is the one that made this decision.” The board’s members are not identified online or in mailed communications provided to InMaricopa by Amarillo Creek residents. In its written response, SMFA said its authority is established through recorded covenants that run with the land and are disclosed at purchase. The board said it acts in accordance with those documents and applicable law, and declined to answer additional policy questions, citing its limited administrative role. What changed, even as the board declined to speak, was enforcement. As payments lagged and development returned, SMFA increasingly turned its authority inward, using liens to secure revenue from homeowners. If the association did not contract for service, 911 calls would be routed to the nearest available department under mutual aid, but no agency would be specifically funded or legally obligated to provide dedicated fire protection to those subdivisions. At stake is not just who responds to emergencies, but who controls the revenue stream and the mechanisms that keep it intact. The December letter insists the association remains necessary “until such time as the City of Maricopa is able to provide fire service.” A future city fire station depends on development fees reaching roughly $2.2 million, a funding benchmark that is likely to trail the occupancy threshold for annexation. In the meantime, as homes are occupied and payments come due, SMFA is recording liens that convert missed quarterly assessments into secured debt attached to the property — an enforcement power flexed by a board that won’t identify its members.
Serving families while honoring traditions. Locations: • Casa Grande (2) • Eloy • Coolidge • Ajo • Maricopa office *
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InMaricopa.com | March 2026
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