It is the recommendation of staff (1) to approve on first reading Ordinance 10-2022 authorizing the City Manager to sign the Colorado Region 18 Opioid IGA, and set a public hearing for May 4, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard and (2) for Council to provide direction on the use of the City allocated opioid funds.

The City of Alamosa filed a complaint against various opioid manufacturers and distributors in federal court in May of 2018, which was consolidated into the nationwide multi-district litigation being heard by Judge Dan A. Polster in the Northern District of Ohio (the “MDL”). The Colorado Attorney General's Office has also participated in the MDL. 

The MDL has been settled on a nationwide basis with numerous defendants contributing to a settlement fund to be distributed to the states and then further distributed by them to the local jurisdictions within their boundaries. The amount of the settlement fund distributed to each state will be affected by how many local jurisdictions within that state, and especially local jurisdictions participating in the MDL or other opioid litigation within that state, participate in the settlement agreement.

The Attorney General's Office has created the Colorado Opioids Settlement Memorandum of Understanding (Colorado MOU) that would guide the disbursement and use of any funds received by Colorado.  The funds would be split with 10% going to infrastructure, 10% to the State of Colorado, 20% to local governments, and 60% to regional governing committees. City Council authorized the City Manager to sign the Colorado MOU and other opioid documents in 2021, at the time it passed Ordinance No. 22-2021.

The attached Regional IGA is based off a boiler plate IGA that the Attorney General's Office created and ties into the Colorado MOU with the AG that the City approved last year.  The Regional IGA lays out the structure and processes for the local Opioid Council.  Attached you will find a copy of the draft with the City Attorney's comments.  Since this is an IGA that will need to be approved by all municipalities and counties in the valley, coordinating edits is somewhat challenging, but staff anticipates having a clean copy for Council at second reading.

In addition to approving the IGA, staff recommends that Council authorize the allocation of the approximately $3,000/year direct distribution that the City anticipates receiving to the Regional Governing Committee.  The Committee has discussed the enhanced impact that the funds could have if every local government would allocate their local distribution to be included with the regional distribution ($94,000).  Given the small nature of the direct distribution, creating a larger pot does seem to make sense.

The Colorado MOU with the AG that the City signed in 2021 sets out that 20% of the settlement funds will be distributed directly to participating local governments and includes the percentage for each agency.  Based on current estimates, the City anticipates approximately $59,678 or $3,315 per year for 18 years directly to it, and $2,663,520, or $146,307 per year for 18 years to the San Luis Valley Region in which it will participate.