Albuquerque Mayor, City Council disagree on use of opioid settlement funds
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque will get millions of dollars in opioid settlements funds over the next decade, but the latest decision over what to do with some of that funding has sparked disagreement between the mayor and city council. The Keller Administration is pushing for city council to change its proposal. The mayor wants more spent on existing programs, while some councilors want to see other non-profits get access to money.
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'The administration needs to know how they're going to fund these operations, not just one year at a time, so we need a plan, we haven't seen a plan,' said Renée Grout, Albuquerque City Councilor.
That's what she said is driving city councilors plan on where to spend millions in opioid settlement funds. 'I think it's really balanced plan that does meet what the community told us what they wanted, which was those non-profits to be taken care of,' said Tamy Fiebelkorn, Albuquerque City Councilor.
Meanwhile, Mayor Tim Keller's Administration is urging councilors to change their plan for roughly $14 million, saying the bulk of that money should go into existing programs like Serenity Mesa. 'I would hope that this money that Serenity Mesa would have an opportunity to apply for some of this funding, there's a lot of providers, really good providers in Albuquerque,' said Jennifer Burke, Serenity Mesa.
Councilors' current plan calls for $1.8 million for Albuquerque Public Schools' substance abuse prevention for school kids, while another $2 million would go toward smaller and medium-sized service providers. But the bulk of the money, $10 million, would go toward infrastructure grants for non-profits to expand. 'Nowhere in this resolution or the attachment does it say about building a new building, because no one I spoke to at any point in the last year and a half has said they wanted a new building,' said Councilor Fiebelkorn.
Facing uncertainty in the federal grant process, city administrators said now is the time to fund existing programs. 'If we wanted to bring on a new provider or expand our use of someone like Serenity Mesa, we currently can't do that because there is 10 million dollars locked away for three years for capital investment, capital projects, and buildings,' said JR Rael, Executive Operations Officer, City of Albuquerque.
City councilors are expected to vote on that resolution Monday night. If it passes, the mayor will ultimately have to decide if he'll sign or veto the plan. Albuquerque has already spent more than $18 million in opioid funds of the roughly $80 million they're expected to get over the next decade, including about $5 million on a pallet home community near Comanche Rd. and I-25.
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