An opioid settlement task force for Manitowoc County will not come to fruition.
County Board Chairmen Tyler Martell explained on his Facebook page that the Manitowoc County Board never voted on his proposal after 19th District Board Member James Falkowski made a motion to postpone the vote on the task force indefinitely.
Martell calls the decision disappointing and isn’t surprised since the intention behind creating the task force was to talk about an issue that he believes wasn’t getting enough traction.
The county board chairman also felt that there was a lot of misunderstanding regarding the proposal and intention behind it saying, “those within the Human Services Department worried that a task force would mean that money would be taken from the Human Service’s budget.”
Martell says that’s not true.
“There is no allocation for the 2026 budget for how any opioid settlement dollars would need to be used,” he explained. “The proposal in 2026 could be no dollars of the opioid settlement being given to the Human Services. We could change direction and appropriate it to the sheriff’s department.”
Falkowski disagreed during Tuesday’s meeting.
He elaborated, “For long range planning, I think its more effective to have it within our budget’s process then it is to have a task force making recommendations for a period of, what, 18 years. And it exists with our county executive.”
Martell said that County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer also sent a letter to board members the task force would create new “non-mandated” programs that would allow private groups to get a share of county opioid settlement.
In the end, the county board voted 11-10 to indefinitely table the task force, meaning for now it can’t be voted on at another meeting.
Martell says while he’s disappointed, he’s not deterred.
Manitowoc County will receive about $6 million from a series of nationwide settlements with manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of opioid pharmaceuticals.
