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Council approves intergovernmental agreement to allocate opioid-settlement funds locally
Summary
The Dalles authorized an intergovernmental funding agreement with Wasco County to distribute the city’s share of opioid-settlement revenues to locally proposed programs, including NorCor, The Gorge Recovery Center, Dufur School District, Nextdoor Inc. and others; city funds will be restricted to services delivered within city limits.
The Dalles City Council on Dec. 16 authorized the city manager to execute an intergovernmental funding agreement (IFA) with Wasco County to distribute the city’s share of opioid-settlement revenues from national settlements with manufacturers and distributors.
City Manager described an RFP process that produced five proposals for local uses of the funds, naming NorCor, You Think, The Gorge Recovery Center, Dufur School District and Nextdoor Inc. among respondents. Debbie Jones, Wasco County’s prevention specialist and overdose-prevention coordinator, told the council The Gorge Recovery Center is a new nonprofit (she estimated it received over $2,000,000 in state funding) and said the county will administer many of the agreements if recipients operate outside city boundaries.
Jones explained how settlement dollars are restricted to opioid-epidemic abatement strategies overseen by the Department of Justice and that the state receives 45% of proceeds while local governments split the remaining 55%. She described planned uses tied to the continuum of care: prevention, harm reduction, recovery and treatment. Examples discussed included NorCor using funds for medication-assisted treatment in incarcerated settings, a school-based prevention curriculum for the district request, and Nextdoor’s outreach and harm-reduction work focused on LGBTQ+ residents.
Councilor McLaughlin moved to authorize the IFA with Wasco County and Councilor Randall seconded; the motion carried unanimously.
Next steps: the county will finalize contracts and administer awarded programs, with stipulations that city-funded services must be delivered within city limits or be covered from county shares where appropriate.
