Opioid settlement means $3.35 million for Lorain County communities

Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday that the first payments from the OneOhio settlement with national opioid distributors have been made to local governments. More than $3.35 million will be paid to Lorain County, its cities, villages and townships. The Board of Commissioners will decide how to disburse nearly $1.89 million from the settlement. The Board of Commissioners said last year that a portion of that is likely to go toward the Lorain County Crisis Stabilization Center being built in Lorain, to help provide crisis services for people with addictions or in mental health crisis. The Lorain County Board of Commissioners, which first sued opioid manufacturers and distributors in December 2017, voted to accept the terms of the OneOhio settlement in August 2021. The city of Lorain will receive nearly $400,000, Elyria will get nearly $372,000, North Ridgeville will get more than $155,000 and Avon will get almost $103,000. All the remaining awards to Lorain County communities were less than $100,000. The majority of the many lawsuits filed by Ohio counties and cities were consolidated in federal court in Cleveland. &emsp;&emsp; Lorain County is part of Region 19 of the settlement agreement, which also includes Ashland, Erie, Huron, Medina, Richland and Wayne counties. The funds received, rounded to the nearest dollar, were: Lorain County, $1,888,532 Lorain, $399,503 Elyria, $371,996 North Ridgeville, $155,072 Avon, $102,900 Avon Lake, $93,507 Oberlin, $73,787 Vermilion, $60,942 Sheffield, $54,066 Amherst, $48,614 Wellington, $23,263 Amherst Township, $18,951 Sheffield Lake, $15,971 Grafton, $9,434 LaGrange, $7,649 Carlisle Township, $6,551 Columbia Township, $6,276 Sheffield Township, $5,507 Grafton Township, $3,186 South Amherst, $2,856 Rochester Township, $1,909 New Russia Township, $1,181 Elyria Township, $1,085 Henrietta Township, $658 Eaton Township, $632 Payments to villages and townships that were less than $500 went directly to the county. Those included Camden Township ($439), Kipton ($137), Brighton Township ($27) and Rochester village ($27). Local governments must use OneOhio funds consistent with the settlement agreement, according to the governor's office. Smaller political subdivisions like townships and villages whose payments were redirected to the county "are encouraged to work with their county's leaders and related organizations to ensure that abatement efforts in these smaller subdivisions are addressed," according to DeWine's office. A complete list of payments made to eligible and participating political subdivisions may be found at nationalopioidsettlement.com/states/ohio. DeWine's office said local governments "will determine how to use the payments, totaling more than $8.6 million, to best combat the opioid epidemic in their own communities." "Following these initial payments, governments will continue receiving payments from the settlement over the next 18 years," the governor's office said in Friday's statement. When he was Ohio attorney general in 2017, DeWine sued opioid manufacturers and distributors "for their role in flooding the market with massive amounts of highly addictive opioids," his office said. "Ohio's families and communities have been hit hard by the opioid epidemic," DeWine said. "While nothing can make whole the losses sustained by Ohioans who have been affected by opioids, it is welcome news that the first payments are going out this week to local governments." Additional funding for the benefit of all communities in Ohio will also be available through the OneOhio Recovery Foundation. The OneOhio Recovery Foundation is divided into 19 regions and is designed to allow communities to take a regional approach to abating the opioid epidemic. More information on the OneOhio Recovery Foundation can be found at RecoveryOhio.ohio.gov.