Lexington is sitting on unspent opioid settlement cash. City says that’s changing soon
Lexington-Fayette County is one of 50 counties in Kentucky that has yet to spend millions of dollars worth of opioid abatement funds they received to combat overdose deaths and increase harm reduction efforts.
However, local officials announced Tuesday they’ve made a step forward in using the money.
Settlements provided the state with money to help combat the opioid crisis. As of June 2025, more than $94.5 million in opioid settlement funds have been granted across Kentucky’s 120 counties, and another $28 million to 149 cities, according to a new report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
More than 90% of opioid abatement grant funds awarded to address the drug epidemic and support recovery remain unused, according to the report released Tuesday by the Berea-based research and advocacy group.
Local governments were required to submit detailed reporting on their grant spending for the first time in fiscal year 2025. Half of them reported they spent no money at all that year.
Of the $122.4 million originally granted to cities and counties since 2022, they still had $109.8 million on hand at the end of the last fiscal year, the center found (the available money includes interest that has accrued on that unspent cash, the report notes).
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government has spent nothing despite having about $8.3 million, the report shows.
Because the money has gained interest, Fayette County has accrued $353,162 on the settlement without spending anything.
In an expenditure explainer, Fayette County officials said they were still assessing needs for the community, building community input and looking into data-driven solutions.
“This intentional pause allowed us to lay the groundwork for responsible, targeted and sustainable use of the funds moving forward,” their explanation reads. “Lexington is committed to ensuring every dollar is spent in a way that maximizes prevention, treatment, and supports long term recovery.”
Lexington’s first step in spending opioid settlement money
From 2023 to 2025, a commission created by Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton worked to draft several recommendations for how the settlement funds should be spent.
At an April 26 meeting the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council did make decisions on how a significant portion of the money will be used, allocating $3 million toward a grant program for nonprofits addressing the opioid epidemic.
On Tuesday, Lexington announced the application process to apply for grant funding will open Thursday, July 2.
“We have taken a careful, methodical approach in Lexington, creating a local, diverse advisory commission to carefully evaluate Lexington’s needs,” said Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton. “Even though it doesn’t say it, this report makes the case for a methodical approach at the local level. The constant cuts at higher levels to the grants and funding we rely on to combat this epidemic create an unpredictable world for decision makers as we commit precious resources.”
Other counties in the Central Kentucky region have also held onto the money thus far. Madison, Woodford and Clark counties have zero reported expenditures.
“We have not yet determined how we want to expend the funds to best meet the needs of the community,” Woodford County’s explanation reads. The county has more than $8 million worth of opioid abatement grant funds available.
