Muncie to use opioid settlement funds for police and fire raises, despite questions about money’s best use

In a narrow vote, the Muncie City Council approved paying for police and fire department raises using a portion of the city’s opioid settlement money.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, the mayoral administration was asked why the raises could only be paid for with this pot of money.

The passed ordinance uses more than $526,000 in unrestricted funds from the state opioid settlement to pay for raises this year only.  According to city deputy controller Matt Wagley, using the money came up in negotiations with police and fire unions.

“If we don’t have this funding, we can’t pay for the contracts,” he told the council.  “If we can’t pay for the contracts, the mayor may have to declare an economic emergency.  And if he does that, we have to break the contracts with the police and fire unions.”

Council member Nora Powell says the council wasn’t told when it approved contracts last month that it would require using the opioid funds.

“Both sides are very deserving,” she said, after more than an hour of public comment.  “The police should not have to get up here and argue why they deserve five percent, because you do.  And the community should not have to plead their case for prevention services.”

Citizens who spoke agreed that police and fire needed raises.  And fire and police department members talked about how they are the first responders helping bring back people who are overdosing.  But citizen said they wanted the opioid settlement money to go directly to opioid addiction treatment and recovery services.

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Resident Mary Beth Lambert worries where the salary money will come from next year.

“Muncie has a chronic disease of not being able to maintain what we create.  And if you’re creating a raise today, how are you maintaining that?”

City Controller Craig Wright says Muncie will look at the tax revenue that’s supposed to come in next year to decide where the money will come from.

The council took a failed vote to table the ordinance before narrowly approving it 5-4.

During public comment, Muncie Police Department social workers told the council that since June 2024, they’ve gone on more than 700 help calls.  And they say about half included issues created by opioid addiction.

Muncie also received more than $1.13 million in restricted funds this year, which is supposed to be used for opioid abatement programs.  On Monday night, by unanimous vote, the city council created an advisory committee to help decide how to spend that money.  A committee is a recommendation from the state of Indiana.

Muncie will receive yearly deposits of opioid settlement funds every year through 2038.  City council member Sara Gullion says every year, the city gets a little less from that distribution.

A 2023 report from KFF Health News and NPR found some states using opioid settlement money to pay for vehicles for police agencies to drive people to addiction treatment and body scanners for local jails that deputies say will keep contraband drugs out of the facilities.

In Indiana, those aren’t allowed under restricted funds.

Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host.  Contact her at [email protected].