McDowell County: $200,000 yearly for 18 years from National Opiod Settlement

McDowell County -- McDowell County will receive about $200,000 in annual proceeds from a national opioid settlement

for the next 18 years. 

North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, the state could receive up to $850 million 15% will go general fund,

the balance, 80%, to local governments in all counties. North Carolina  data show between 2000 and 2020, there were over  28,000 North Carolinians drug overdose deaths.

"We appreciate all the hard work and leadership by Attorney General Stein, his staff at the Department of Justice, as well as talented county leaders across this state who worked so hard on this historic settlement agreement. Their collaboration and collective efforts, working to address the opioid epidemic in North Carolina, will save lives and have generational impacts. The deal will give local governments an unprecedented opportunity to help heal our communities, and our Association will work to secure full participation by all North Carolina counties,” said NCACC President Ronnie Smith, Chair of the Martin County Board of Commissioners.

“While no amount of money will ever be enough, this settlement will force these drug companies to pay an historic amount of money to bring much-needed treatment and recovery services to North Carolina communities and to change their business practices so that something like this never happens again. North Carolina has signed on to this deal, and thanks to a strong partnership with our cities and counties, more than 53 local governments have already jumped on board. I look forward to working with county and city leaders across the state to ensure that North Carolina brings home the maximum amount of funds possible. We cannot delay – too many people’s lives depend on it,” said Attorney General Josh Stein.

NCACC:

To maximize funds flowing to North Carolina communities on the front lines of the opioid epidemic, the agreement would direct settlement funds as follows:

15 percent to the state, which the General Assembly would appropriate to address the epidemic.
80 percent to local governments, including all 100 counties and 17 municipalities.
An additional five percent to an incentive fund to encourage counties and large- and medium-size municipalities to sign on to the agreement.
In addition, the agreement offers a high level of transparency into how local governments will use the funds, including special revenue funds subject to audit, annual financial and impact reports, and a public dashboard showing how they are using settlement funds to address the epidemic.

Wnctimes by Marjorie Farrington