Opioid Settlement Money Still Sitting in Bank Accounts Three Years Later Across West Michigan

More than three years after Michigan communities began receiving millions of dollars to fight the opioid epidemic, some West Michigan counties 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 has frustrated 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."

The opioid crisis as recently as 2023 killed nearly 3,000 Michiganders. An estimated 80 percent of those deaths were opioid-related. 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 said.

"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."

A 2024 Bridge investigation provided the first statewide accounting of how communities were handling those funds. That investigation found that more than 40 percent 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 percent had yet to open their checkbooks. That was an improvement from 2024, when a similar survey found 51 percent 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 Michigan.

"We are still in a planning/assessing/collecting RFPs stage," Bailey said.

A similar planning phase is underway in Mason County, where a newly formed advisory group is reviewing allowable uses under the settlement and preparing to guide future spending recommendations on more than $1.9 million in expected funds, according to reporting by the Ludington Daily News.

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.

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 said.

"We should be using those funds," Poland said.

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," Lahey 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 he gets it.

"There are only so many chips to pass around the table," Lahey said. "It's a delicate thing to get right."

But after three years, advocates are growing impatient. The money is meant to save lives, and every day it sits in a bank account is a day it's not helping those in need.

Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and other West Michigan communities are among those waiting to see if their funds will eventually find their way to programs and services that can help residents struggling with addiction.

For now, the settlement money remains in limbo, a testament to the complexity of addressing a public health crisis and the challenges local governments face in determining the best way to spend one-time funds with strict parameters.

The Michigan Attorney General's office report expected this spring should provide more clarity on where the money has gone and where it has not.