Tumwater will join a countywide committee to oversee the distribution of the second tranche of the national settlement funds from opioid manufacturers and distributors, which City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick told the city council would be arriving soon.
On Tuesday, June 11, Tumwater City Council authorized Mayor Debbie Sullivan to sign two agreements allowing the city to join the new subcommittee.
In compliance with a 2022 memorandum of understanding between Washington municipalities, Tumwater would need to join a county-level subcommittee to monitor the spending of the settlement funds.
This new subcommittee is different from the larger Opioid Abatement Council of the Cascade Pacific Action Alliance Region, which consists of representatives from Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, and Wahkiakum Counties.
The council approved a regional agreement forming the subcommittee and then followed it up with an interlocal agreement setting the duties of this subcommittee.
The subcommittee being developed for Thurston County will consist of representatives from Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, and Thurston County. It will meet once a year to review how settlement funds are being spent and ensure that the usage of these funds complies with the settlement agreements.
Kirkpatrick said that they were given a deadline of June 30 to form the subcommittee in preparation for the second tranche.
Tumwater has already received around $22,000 in settlement funds, which is likely to be the same amount for the second batch of funds, said Kirkpatrick. She added that the city would continue receiving settlements ranging between $21,000 and $30,000 for the next 15 years.
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