15% Local Share
Where do these monies live?
This share is distributed directly to participating cities and counties according to the default allocations in Exhibit G of the national settlements.[1] Amounts for non-litigating municipalities with populations under 30,000 are reallocated to their participating counties.[2]
What can this share be spent on?
This share should spent on the opioid remediation uses described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[3] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies. However, the MOA also provides that localities may use these funds to cover attorneys’ fees and litigation costs or as reimbursements for past remediation expenditures,[4] provided that localities report such uses to settlement administrators.[5]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Local governments decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the counties and municipalities will ultimately decide for themselves whether and how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses.[6]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Tennessee does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of settlement funds from its 15% local share. This means that the local share may be spent in ways that replace (or “supplant”) — rather than supplement — existing resources.
Can I see how this share has been spent?
Up to each locality (neither public nor intrastate reporting required). Opioid settlement expenditures are not officially published in a centralized location for this share.
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
Tennessee State-Subdivision Opioid Abatement Agreement with 2023 Amendments (Agreement) III.E(1) (“The 15% Subdivision Fund shall generally be directed to the Subdivisions participating in the Distributor/J&J Settlements pursuant to the default provisions of those agreements, including the allocation of funds for non-litigating municipalities with populations under 10,000 to their respective counties”). ↑
Agreement III(E)(2) (“The default provisions are adjusted for non-litigating municipalities in participating counties that both (1) have populations of 10,000 to 30,000 per the 2019 U.S. Census estimate and (2) have a Subdivision Fund allocation percentage less than 0.5%. The allocations for such municipalities shall be directed to their respective counties if the county is a participating subdivision”). See also Tennessee Opioid Settlements Guide for Local Governments. Office of the Attorney General and Reporter. March 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“Whether a municipality qualifies for direct payments is generally dependent on its size and litigating status. For example, all municipalities with populations of 30,000 or more are qualifying municipalities”). ↑
Agreement III.B (“The Distributor/J&J Settlements have provisions concerning the use of funds and those are controlling. Generally they require that money from all three [of Tennessee’s] sub-funds be used for ‘Opioid Remediation’ as that term is defined in those agreements”) (emphasis added) and Distributor Settlement Agreement 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”). ↑
Agreement III.B (describing that monies in all three sub-funds (including the Local Share) can be used for “‘Opioid Remediation’ as that term is defined in those agreements. Such definitions include restitution for past abatement within the definition of remediation”). See also Tennessee Opioid Settlements Guide for Local Governments. Office of the Attorney General and Reporter. March 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“The allowance for Subdivision Fund payments to be used as ‘reimbursement’ for past remediation expenditures potentially provides flexibility in the use of those funds for subdivisions that have had such past expenditures[, but] the flagging of this language regarding the use of settlement funds … should not be viewed as encouraging the use of settlement payments for non-opioid abatement purposes. Given the resources needed to address the opioid crisis in the state, the Attorney General’s Office encourages subdivisions to use all funds to expand and add to remediation and abatement efforts. Under the settlement agreements, it is also possible to pay attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses from the Subdivision Fund payments, though the settlements include separate fee and costs funds so this should not be necessary”). ↑
Tennessee Opioid Settlements Guide for Local Governments. Office of the Attorney General and Reporter. March 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024 (“There is a limited reporting requirement for Subdivision Fund payments, which is being administered by the national Directing Administrator, BrownGreer. … What clearly must be reported is any expenditure for attorneys’ fees or litigation costs paid for out of the Subdivision Fund payments”). ↑
Agreement III.B (describing that monies in all three sub-funds (including the Local Share) can be used for “‘Opioid Remediation’ as that term is defined in those agreements”) and Tennessee Opioid Settlements Guide for Local Governments. Office of the Attorney General and Reporter. March 2023. Accessed August 26, 2024 (generally describing localities’ autonomy of spend and ability to spend their shares on approved uses). ↑
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