Council approves acceptance of new opioid‑manufacturer settlement phase; city share to be routed through regional behavioral health ILA

Port Orchard — The City Council voted unanimously to authorize acceptance of the next phase of national opioid litigation settlements, covering Purdue Pharma, members of the Sackler family and a set of generic manufacturers. Staff described the phase as part of the multi‑district litigation and said the overall phase represents about $122.2 million payable nationally over 15 years; the city’s estimated portion is approximately $123,000 to $126,000 over 15 years (about $8,200–$8,400 per year).

City staff said the settlement funds are restricted by the negotiated settlement terms to opioid prevention, awareness, treatment and recovery activities. The city currently participates in an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the Salish Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization to pool settlement proceeds from multiple jurisdictions and to allocate them for approved opioid‑response programs; staff said this phase’s funds would be handled under the same ILA and the same permissible uses.

The council moved and passed a resolution authorizing the mayor or designee to execute required documents to accept the settlement funds if the forms negotiated by the Washington State Attorney General’s office are approved. Staff said they plan to amend the existing ILA with Salish to accommodate the new funds and will capture the additional revenue in a mid‑biennial budget review and in a coming ILA amendment expected in September.

Councilmember Morrissey moved adoption of the resolution; Councilmember Trenary seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

Council members generally described the pooled approach with neighboring jurisdictions as a way to increase programmatic impact by directing funds to prevention and treatment infrastructure rather than each jurisdiction acting alone.