20% City and Town Share
Where do these monies live?
The remaining 20% of settlement funds is paid directly to participating cities and towns according to Exhibit A of Rhode Island’s state-local agreement.[1]
Participating cities and towns are encouraged to pool their funds,[2] and each may also direct their shares to the state.[3]
What can this share be spent on?
In general, and with limited exceptions,[4] this share must be spent on the approved purposes described in the national settlement agreement’s (non-exhaustive) Exhibit E,[5] which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and other strategies.
Though local governments are encouraged to use monies on forward-looking strategies,[6] they may use their shares to reimburse past abatement expenditures if those reimbursement uses are documented through a resolution or equivalent action.[7]
Who ultimately decides how to spend this share (and how)?
Local governments decide autonomously. Decisionmakers for the cities and towns will ultimately decide for themselves how to spend their monies on Exhibit E uses.[8]
Is this share attached to an explicit bar against supplantation?
No, supplantation is not prohibited. Like most states, Rhode Island does not explicitly prohibit supplantation uses of its opioid settlement funds. This means that City and Town 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
Rhode Island Memorandum of Understanding Between the State and Cities and Towns Receiving Opioid Settlement Funds (MOU) II.A(1) (“20% directly to the Participating Cities and Towns (‘City and Town Share’) for Approved Purposes in accordance with Section III below”), MOU III.A (“Exhibit A … assigns each Eligible City or Town a percentage share of funds”), MOU I.H (defining “Participating City or Town” to mean those that are signatories to the MOU and participants to the settlement agreements, with the following cities and towns listed as explicitly eligible in MOU I.D: “Barrington, Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Charlestown, Coventry, Cranston, Cumberland, East Greenwich, East Providence, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Jamestown, Johnston, Lincoln, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett, New Shoreham, Newport, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Portsmouth, Providence, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, Warwick, West Greenwich, West Warwick, Westerly, and Woonsocket”). ↑
MOU III.C (“Participating Cities and Towns may, and are encouraged to, share, pool, or collaborate on opioid abatement efforts with their respective allocation of the City and Town Share in any manner they choose”). ↑
MOU III.D (“Participating Cities and Towns may, at their discretion, forego their allocation of the City and Town Share and direct their allocation to the Statewide Abatement Share by affirmatively notifying the Advisory Committee and any relevant settlement fund administrator on an annual basis”). ↑
MOU I.A (“Qualifying expenditures may include reasonable related administrative expenses”) and MOU I.G (defining “Opioid Settlement Funds” to exclude “funds needed to pay an administrator or a Rhode Island Qualified Settlement Administrator, or designated by a Settlement Agreement or court order for State or Participating Subdivision attorneys’ fees and costs”).
See also MOU III.G (“The Parties agree that attorneys representing the Participating Cities and Towns in litigation against the Opioids Defendants will satisfy any contractual obligations relating to those legal representations through the mechanisms provided for in the Settlement Agreements. Notwithstanding the provisions of part B of this subsection, no portion of the City and Town Share shall be used to pay any attorneys’ fees, costs, or other contractual obligations relating to legal representation in litigation against the Opioids Defendants”). ↑
MOU I.A ("'Approved Purposes' means care, treatment, and other programs and expenditures designed to (1) address the misuse and abuse of opioid products; (2) treat or mitigate opioid use or related disorders; or (3) mitigate other alleged effects of, including on those injured as a result of, the opioid epidemic as identified by... Exhibit E ... or any other relevant Settlement Agreement"), MOU II.B ("All Opioid Settlement Funds, regardless of allocation, shall be utilized solely for Approved Purposes"). ↑
MOU III.B (“The City and Town Share shall be used for Approved Purposes and the Parties intend for the Opioid Settlement Funds to be used on forward-looking opioid abatement efforts”). ↑
MOU III.B (“But, the City and Town Share may also be used for past expenditures so long as the expenditures were made for Approved Purposes and are not otherwise restricted by a confirmed plan in a bankruptcy proceeding. Prior to using any portion of the City and Town Share as restitution for past expenditures, a Participating City or Town shall pass a resolution or take equivalent governmental action that explains its determination that its prior expenditures for Approved Purposes are greater than or equal to the amount of the City and Town Share that the City or Town seeks to use for restitution”). ↑
MOU III.A-F (providing for cities’ and towns’ direct receipt of shares, responsibility for their approved uses, ability to collaborate amongst themselves, redirect their shares, and otherwise describing their autonomous uses of funds). See also Municipal Opioid Briefing. Rhode Island Attorney General Presentation. August 2, 2022. Accessed August 25, 2024 (see “Direct Funds: How can cities and towns spend them?”). ↑
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