Bernalillo County reports $25.5M opioid-settlement balance, details procurements and tiny-home expansion
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Summary
Deputy county manager Wayne Lindstrom told commissioners the county held roughly $25.5 million in opioid-settlement funds as of Sept. 18, 2025, and described completed expenditures, active procurements for provider capacity and infrastructure, and plans to expand a tiny-home village by purchasing the Albuquerque Indian Center property.
Deputy county manager Wayne Lindstrom briefed the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 28 on the status of opioid-settlement funds and ongoing procurements intended to expand treatment, prevention and provider capacity.
Lindstrom reported an account balance of roughly $25.5 million as of Sept. 18 and said completed expenditures included a public awareness marketing campaign ("Keep New Mexico Alive"), support for medication-assisted treatment programs at the medical quality detention center, naloxone training at the youth services center, and acquisition of the Albuquerque Indian Center property to expand a tiny-home village by 18 units.
After those expenditures, Lindstrom said the county held an available balance of about $23.7 million. The county set aside $2 million for capacity and sustainability procurement and designated $10 million for a provider-infrastructure procurement; the city of Albuquerque has a corresponding $10 million. Lindstrom said the small- and medium-provider procurement produced 21 submissions, 18 of which qualified for review and that about eight awards are likely pending contract negotiations. The county released its provider-infrastructure RFP on Oct. 22 and the review process remained underway.
Lindstrom also raised federal funding concerns: "It appears that there will not be support for harm reduction programs going forward," he said, noting changes at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and urging the commission to consider using settlement funds to fill potential gaps.
Accountability: Lindstrom said the county has purchased Tableau to build a public dashboard that will report financial measures by December and will add client-outcome measures later after contracts are negotiated and data collection is in place.
Why it matters: The countyis distributing multi-year opioid-settlement funds to treatment, prevention and community-revitalization projects; procurement outcomes and dashboard reporting will shape near-term investments.
What's next: Contracts and awards for provider grants are pending; the county expects to post initial financial dashboard measures by December and report client outcome measures by the end of the fiscal year.
