The numbers behind the silence

Michigan local governments have received $214 million in opioid settlement funds since checks began arriving three years ago. They have spent just $38 million of it.

That leaves $176 million sitting in bank accounts across the state, money that was meant to fight a crisis that kills roughly one Michigander every six hours.

The state's first official accounting of how those funds are being spent was released last week by the Michigan Attorney General's Office. The report found that 12 counties, all in northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula, have not spent a single dollar of opioid settlement money.

Grand Traverse County, home to Traverse City, has not been individually named in the report. But the geographic concentration of unspent funds in the northern half of the state means the Traverse City region is squarely in the zone where opioid settlement dollars are accumulating without being deployed.

How the state finally got transparency

The report itself is a policy milestone. Until last year, Michigan was not tracking how local governments spent opioid settlement funds. Bridge Michigan reporting in 2024 exposed the gap, finding that unlike other states, Michigan residents had no way to know how much money was being spent or on what programs.

Using Freedom of Information Act requests, Bridge found that as of September 2024, local governments were sitting on $90 million in unspent funds, with four in 10 communities having spent nothing at all.

In response, the Attorney General's Office renegotiated its agreement with local governments in July 2025. The revised State-Subdivision Agreement for Opioid Settlements now requires annual reporting on how funds are used and gives the AG's office authority to request information from participating local governments.

"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."

What the report shows

The preliminary report covers data from January 1, 2023, through December 10, 2025. Here is what it found:

  • $214 million received by local governments. $38 million spent. That is a 17.7 percent spending rate.
  • Of 258 local governments that reported to the attorney general, 75 had not spent any funds.
  • 12 counties, all in northern Michigan or the Upper Peninsula, had zero spending.
  • Among cities, Warren (with $2.7 million in the bank) and Farmington Hills ($1.7 million) had not spent any funds as of December.

Michigan governments are slated to receive nearly $1.8 billion from opioid settlements by 2040. Half of that total goes directly to county, city, and township governments. The rest goes to the state for drug prevention services.

Why northern Michigan is behind

The pattern of unspent funds in northern Michigan is not accidental. Amy Dolinky, technical adviser for opioid settlement funds planning and capacity building at the Michigan Association of Counties, told Bridge that many of the counties that had not spent 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."

The state also released new Settlement Spending Guidance and Non-Remediation List last week, providing a framework for local governments to follow when allocating opioid settlement funds. The guidance clarifies what qualifies as opioid remediation and what does not, including a list of expenditures that likely do not qualify, such as law enforcement equipment, surveillance cameras, and general crime detection tools.

The crisis is easing, but the money is still there

Michigan's opioid overdose deaths have dropped sharply. The state recorded 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, the overdose reversal drug. 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.

But the settlement money is not going away. With nearly $1.8 billion still coming over the next 14 years, the question for Traverse City and other northern Michigan communities is not whether there will be enough money to spend. It is whether the money that is already sitting in bank accounts will ever reach the programs and people it was meant to serve.