Luzerne County must decide how to spend opioid settlement funds

Luzerne County’s newly released 2022 annual audit makes special mention of the money it is receiving from the state’s litigation settlement against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors.

Now county council must decide how it will come up with a plan to spend this money within guidelines.

The audit said the county is due to receive approximately $25 million over 18 years.

It already collected $3.4 million in settlement payments and is expected to receive these additional allocations, the audit said: 2023, $1.4 million; 2024, $1.7 million; 2025, $1.8 million; 2026, $1 million; 2027, $1.4 million; 2028 through 2032, $7.5 million; 2033 through 2037, $6 million; and 2038, $1.2 million.

County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce and members of the administration had proposed formation of an Opioid Advisory Committee to recommend allowable and valuable uses for the funding.

Sanguedolce said in his submission that he and other overseers of departments impacted by the opioid epidemic suggest the following serve on the committee: a county council member, the county manager, the county drug and alcohol administrator, the human services division head, a private-sector provider/consumer representative, the court administrator and the district attorney.

In a May 9 work session, the DA told council he and others believe it would be better for a committee to draft and present a proposal to council instead of having lengthy discussions at council meetings.

Councilman Stephen J. Urban recommended the committee include three council members instead of one.

Council last publicly discussed the matter at its May 23 work session, when council Chairwoman Kendra Vough said suggestions have been made to return to the original proposal of one council member.

In an email she publicly read from Sanguedolce, the DA said the initial proposed structure was based on successful committees in the majority of other counties. It included parties with different expertise “representing all facets of the opioid epidemic,” he said.

“In our proposal we attempted to limit the number of people involved so as not to overrepresent any side or construct a committee with so many members that it is difficult to efficiently accomplish our goal,” the DA said.

He also stressed council ultimately has the final say on how the money is spent, within government guidelines, because it must vote on committee recommendations. The single council member is intended to serve as a liaison to ensure accurate information is promptly conveyed to the entire 11-member council, he said.

Sanguedolce and some of the other proposed committee members respectfully requested that council limit its representative to one member, his email said.

The goal is to expediently use the money to prevent further loss of life, his email said.

“We have already been stagnant for eight months and are trying our best to move the ball forward at a speedy but responsible pace,” the DA said.

In response at that work session, Urban said two more public representatives should be added if council is not increasing its committee members. He asserted most of the proposed members are “in-house” and said citizens may have a different understanding of problems from a “street perspective.”

Councilman Tim McGinley indicated he still supported three council members on the committee, saying council should be more involved at an early stage because it has to make a decision in the end. He said council has to make sure it is “listening to all groups involved.”

“We have to try to do what’s best for the citizens,” McGinley said.

While the committee formation remains undetermined, county Drug and Alcohol Administrator Ryan Hogan said Monday he met with county Manager Romilda Crocamo last week and provided her with materials about the settlement details and allowable uses.

A lengthy description of options is posted by the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, which was established by the court to oversee the settlement funds, at https://paopioidtrust.org.

The county had 205 drug overdose deaths in 2021, which surpassed the previous record high of 179 record overdose deaths in 2020.

In 2022, there were 173 overdose deaths in the county, the coroner’s office said Monday.

The number this year to date: 64, which does not include those pending the results of toxicology testing, the office said.