More than three years after Michigan communities began receiving millions of dollars to fight the opioid epidemic, some have yet to spend a dime.
Michigan is set to receive at least $1.6 billion over 18 years from a national lawsuit settlement with drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies that were deemed partly responsible for the opioid crisis.
The state is getting half that money, with the rest split between Michigan counties, townships and cities. The funds began arriving in January 2023.
While experts say the funds are beginning to make a difference, the sluggish pace of spending in some communities, from the wine country of Grand Traverse County to mid-Michigan’s Eaton County, has frustrated some state leaders.
“If there was some deliberative process that took three years, that’s too long,” said Jonathan Stoltman, of the Grand Rapids-based Opioid Policy Institute. “Money needs to get out the door.”
Settlement funds are meant to help mitigate the continued harm of the opioid crisis, which as recently as 2023 killed nearly 3,000 Michiganders. An estimated 80% of those deaths were opioid-related.
And while overdose deaths declined by a third to 1,938 in 2024, the last year for which the state has complete data, the number of Michigan residents dying from drugs was still higher than the number who died in car crashes.
Despite the crisis, some local governments are only now preparing to begin disbursing funds to community groups that help those battling addiction.
One that has yet to spend any funds is Grand Traverse County, where Traverse City is located, which has about $2 million from the settlement in the bank and is expected to receive $6.2 million overall.
It’s taken time to figure out how to use the one-time funds to best address the crisis, Grand Traverse County Health Officer Mike Lahey told Bridge Michigan.
“I think some localities, while appreciating (the funds), were like, ‘Now what?’” Lahey said. “It was a new source of money with new types of parameters around it.”
Awaiting a full accounting
It’s unclear how much of the settlement funds distributed to Michigan communities since 2023 have been spent. A 2024 Bridge investigation provided the first statewide accounting of how communities were handling those funds. That investigation found that more than 40% of communities had not spent any funds, with about $90 million sitting in bank accounts.
That closely matched the findings of a survey conducted in the spring of 2025 by the Michigan Association of Counties. Of the 36 counties that responded, 40% had yet to open their checkbooks. That was an improvement from 2024, when a similar survey found 51% hadn’t spent money.
Michigan soon may have a more authoritative accounting.
The Michigan Department of Attorney General has asked counties, townships and cities receiving opioid settlement funds to report how they’ve been spent. Those findings are expected to be released this spring, according to Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for Attorney General Dana Nessel.
Eaton County is among communities yet to distribute funds. The county, which is receiving about $300,000 annually, has “developed a strategic plan and a community assessment to identify gaps in mitigation efforts,” Logan Bailey, director of public and governmental affairs for the county, said in an email to Bridge. “We are still in a planning/assessing/collecting RFPs stage.”
Officials in Lenawee County, which borders Ohio, will consider $1.25 million in proposals for its first opioid settlement spending in April, according to Community Development Coordinator Francine Zysk.
Isabella County, which has $1.1 million in settlement funds in the bank, expects to spend its first settlement funds in 2026. Meanwhile, Schoolcraft County in the Upper Peninsula is just now forming a committee to make spending recommendations.
The city of Warren had $2.9 million in opioid settlement funds in the bank as of October, and had not disbursed any.
“There are those who are anxious to push dollars out without fully considering community needs, process, best practices, or long-term impact,” Mayor Lori Stone said in an October news release. “Opioid use, substance use disorder, and addiction will continuously affect our community. My goal is to find a way of generating continuous revenue that can be dedicated to addressing these ongoing needs.”
Warren officials did not respond to a request for an update on opioid settlement spending.
Cara Poland, chair of the Michigan Opioid Advisory Commission, which makes recommendations to the Legislature, agrees that communities should be thoughtful about how they spend settlement dollars.
But after more than three years, “planning time has been adequate,” Poland told Bridge. “We should be (using) those funds.”
A ‘very frustrating process’
In Grand Traverse County, spending was slowed by a failed first attempt to create a plan for the money, said county health officer Lahey. Now, a plan is in place and a task force formed. “I hope to have (requests for proposals) out in May,” he said.
The process has moved too slowly, said Pam Lynch, of the Traverse City-based Harm Reduction Michigan.
“It’s been a very frustrating process for people who have been doing effective work for a long time,” said Lynch.
“I hear the criticism. ‘What are we doing — this money should be out.’” Lahey said. “And I get it.
“There are only so many chips to pass around the table,” he said. “It sounds like a lot of money. But when you start talking about building programs and hiring people, a million dollars can go fast.”
With the state’s half of settlement dollars, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is distributing $131 million this budget year for drug prevention, treatment and recovery services around the state.
One success story: Since 2023, Michigan has spent $14.8 million in settlement money for 424,882 kits of naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, which is used to revive people who have overdosed on opioids. Organizations can request the kits for free from the state, and in many communities, drug users can then pick up free kits in vending machines and converted newspaper boxes.
That effort is credited at least in part for the decline of almost 1,000 overdose deaths in Michigan from 2023 to 2024.
“When someone uses naloxone, they may be reachable for treatment,” said Poland, chair of the Opioid Advisory Commission. “You don’t have a chance for recovery when someone overdoses and dies.”
Stoltman of the Opioid Policy Institute is eager for settlement funds to be spent, but he also worries that some communities have used the funds for things that don’t address the crisis.
Recently, Flint spent $25,000 in settlement funds to pay for a sign-language interpreter at city council meetings. Farmington Hills used $120,000 to backfill its budget, arguing it was to replace money spent on the drug crisis in the past.
“The best case scenario is that folks (who have yet to spend settlement dollars) are scared to mess it up,” Stoltman said. “But in your fourth year, you can’t be too scared to spend it.”
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This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
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