Michigan towns, cities, townships and counties have $176 million sitting in bank accounts meant to fight the state’s opioid crisis.
The state’s first official accounting of spending by local governments of opioid settlement funds, produced by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, found that 17.7% of funds received since checks began arriving three years ago had been spent by mid-December 2025.
The funds — Michigan’s share of national settlements with drug manufacturers and distributors for their role in sparking the opioid crisis — are meant to help mitigate drug use and deaths. On average, a Michigander dies every six hours from an opioid overdose, with about 2,000 dying last year.
Michigan governments are slated to receive nearly $1.8 billion from opioid settlements by 2040. Half of the settlement amount will be distributed directly to county, city, and township governments, with the rest distributed to the state for drug prevention services.
The report, released Thursday, was a breakthrough in itself. Bridge reporting in 2024 revealed that, unlike other states, Michigan was not tracking how local governments were spending what would eventually amount to more than $700 million. That decision made it difficult for residents to know how much money was being spent and on what.
Using Freedom of Information Act requests, Bridge found that, as of September 2024, local governments were sitting on $90 million, with four in 10 communities having not spent any of their funds yet.
A year later, the Attorney General’s Office renegotiated its agreement with local communities to require communities to file reports on how funding was being spent.
Thursday’s report offered the first look at that spending.
“The opioid epidemic has caused immense damage to Michigan families and communities,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel in a news release. “By providing spending guidance and accessible data, we are helping ensure that settlement funds remain focused on supporting recovery, prevention, and healing across our state.”
According to the report:
Amy Dolinky, technical adviser for opioid settlement funds planning and capacity building at the Michigan Association of Counties, told Bridge that some of the counties that had not spent opioid funds as of December have recently completed planning and are preparing to disburse money in 2026.
“We had advised local governments to think through sustainable funding, and with that in mind, a lot of governments put more planning on the front end,” Dolinky said. “We’ll see more spending going forward.”
Drug deaths have dropped sharply in Michigan, with about 1,700 deaths in 2025, the lowest figure since 2013. As recently as 2021, there were 3,096 overdose deaths.
Experts attribute the decline in part to the widespread use of naloxone, which is used to revive those suffering from opioid overdoses. The state has distributed more than 1.7 million naloxone kits since 2020 and recorded more than 34,000 overdose reversals, according to a new report by the Michigan Opioid Task Force.
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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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