20% Local Governments Share
Where do these monies live?
This share is distributed to participating counties and municipalities,[1] though most have redirected their shares to their respective region(s).[2]
What can this share be spent on?
With limited exceptions,[3] local governments’ direct shares must be spent on forward-looking abatement uses consistent with the national settlement agreements’ (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[4] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Localities decide autonomously (but must report spending to the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council). The municipalities and counties that opted to keep their direct shares can ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses.[5]
Are supplantation uses prohibited for this share?
No, supplantation is discouraged but not prohibited. Colorado does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of opioid settlement funds from the 20% local governments share. However, the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council, which oversees this share,[6] has issued recommendations that discourage uses of settlement funds that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.[7]
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Yes (public reporting required). Visit the Colorado Opioid Settlement Expenditures Dashboard. Each local government that receives money from this share is required to annually report its expenditure data to the Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC), and the COAC is required to publish this information on a dashboard.[8]
Visit OpioidSettlementTracker.com’s Expenditure Report Tracker for an updated collection of states’ and localities’ available expenditure reports.
What else should I know?
Not applicable.
Citations
Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. B.2(b) (“20% directly to Participating Local Governments”), A.9 (defining “Participating Local Governments” to mean “all Local Governments that sign this MOU, and if required under terms of a particular Settlement, who have executed a release of claims with the Opioid Settlement Defendant(s)”). See also Local Governments. Colorado Attorney General’s website. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“Opioid Settlement Funds will also be distributed to local Colorado governments. Local governments include all incorporated municipal and county entities within the state of Colorado. Local governments may opt to allocate their funds directly to their region”); Colorado Opioids Memorandum of Understanding Summary, Sec. C. Colorado Attorney General’s Office. October 2021. Accessed August 26, 2024. ↑
Combating the Opioid Crisis. Colorado Attorney General’s website. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“most local governments chose to direct their funds to their regions to pool resources and reduce expenses”). See Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. E.6 (“A Participating Local Government may forego its allocation of the LG Share and direct its allocation to the Regional Share for the Region where the Participating Local Government is located”). ↑
Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. A.1 (defining “Approved Purposes” to include “reasonable administrative costs associated with overseeing and administrating Opioid Funds” and “attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred in the course of the opioid litigation that are paid through the process discussed below”), E.7 (capping local governments’ administrative costs at the lower of 10% or actual costs), I (addressing payment of counsel and litigation expenses through a back-stop fund). ↑
Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Secs. A.1 (defining “Approved Purpose(s)” as “forward-looking strategies, programming, and services to abate the opioid epidemic as identified by the terms of any Settlement”), B.2(b) (requiring 20% local governments share be spent on “Approved Purposes”), B.4 (“All Opioid Funds, regardless of allocation, shall be used for Approved Purposes”); E.7 (“Participating Local Governments maintain full discretion over the distribution of their allocation of the LG Share anywhere within the State of Colorado, however, all Participating Local Governments shall use their allocation from the LG Share for Approved Purposes only”). Colorado’s Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding also provides that “Approved Purpose(s) shall mean those forward-looking strategies to abatement the opioid epidemic identified in Exhibit A or any supplemental forward-looking abatement strategies added to Exhibit A by the Abatement Council,” but this definition applies only “[i]f a Settlement is silent on Approved Purpose(s).” Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. A.1. All the national settlement agreements explicitly address approved purpose(s).See, e.g., Distributor Settlement Agreement, Sec. I.SS (“Exhibit E provides a non-exhaustive list of expenditures that qualify as being paid for Opioid Remediation. Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”). ↑
Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. E.7 (“Participating Local Governments maintain full discretion over the distribution of their allocation of the LG Share anywhere within the State of Colorado”). See also Combating the Opioid Crisis. Colorado Attorney General’s website. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“most local governments chose to direct their funds to their regions to pool resources and reduce expenses”). ↑
See Colorado Opioid Abatement Council (COAC). ↑
2024 Recommendations and Guiding Principles for the Use & Management of Opioid Settlement Funds from COAC. Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. June 13, 2024 (“Add to or expand effective programming rather than supplanting existing funds”). ↑
Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. E.8 (“All Participating Local Governments shall provide all expenditure data, including administrative costs, from their allocation of the LG Share to the Abatement Council for purposes of maintaining transparency in accordance with Section (C)(4)(c)(i). The Abatement Council may require Participating Local Governments to provide additional outcome related data in accordance with Section (C)(4)(c)(ii)”). But see Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. E.6 (“If a Participating Local Government elects to forego its allocation of the LG Share, the Participating Local Government shall be excused from the reporting requirements”). The Colorado Opioid Abatement Council is also required to “develop a centralized dashboard or other repository for the publication of expenditure data from any Party or Regional Council that receives Opioid Funds” (i.e., the Colorado Opioid Settlement Expenditures Dashboard). Colorado Opioid Settlement Memorandum of Understanding, Sec. C.4.c(i). See also Expenditure Data Reporting Policy. Colorado Opioid Abatement Council. June 7, 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024. ↑
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