A Tracking system Funds provided by the West Virginia First Foundation for the opioid-related settlement payments are on the way, although it is still unclear when they will be released, according to State Auditor JB McCuskey.
To date, No money was distributed from the First Foundation, which was formed last year as a private nonprofit to oversee the state’s share of dollars from the opioid settlements. McCuskey said First Foundation executives are “completely” in favor of distributing the dollars through the West Virginia Checkbookan instrument under the control of the Court of Auditors designed to raise transparency and enable the public to monitor the expenditure of both the national and local governments.
“We’re all really excited … and want to make sure it’s done right,” McCuskey said. “It’s a different scenario than government money because it’s a private foundation, but the idea that the public needs to know and understand how this money is being invested is incredibly important to all of us. So we’re going to make sure we have a system that’s as open as we can legally make it.”
Accordingly Annual financial statementsAs of April 30 (according to the most recent published report), the First Foundation had approximately $222.3 million in the bank ready to distribute to organizations and individuals for programs to combat the ongoing drug and overdose epidemic.
While Cities and counties Across the state, governments have already begun distributing their share of the funds they received. However, the funds allocated to First Foundation are separate. Leaders there have said in recent meetings that they are waiting for more structures to be put in place at the foundation before they begin distributing money.
McCuskey, who is running as a Republican for attorney general, said he was not concerned about the First Foundation’s decision not to disburse funds yet.
“I have no problem with the pace at which the foundation is moving forward now. They just recently got an executive director and these are problems that are very long-term and have long-term solutions,” McCuskey said. “So do we want to spend this money as quickly as possible to start working? Absolutely, but I think it’s important to think carefully about the partners we work with, the projects we fund and the issues we start on, because this money is really a tool to solve intergenerational problems.”
There is no set date for when the First Foundation funds will be available. Regarding the tracker, McCuskey said he has “no control” over when it will be ready to operate.
“I’m sure they’re working on it,” McCuskey said. “I expect that all the information the foundation has collected is more than sufficient to provide the transparency we’re asking for.”
What is not being monitored in one place, however, is the distribution of funds by districts and municipalities. While several municipalities – at least 40 counties And 24 municipalities — participate in the Court of Auditors’ initiative on transparency in local government spending, their participation is not compulsory. Those who participate have chosen to do so and voluntarily submit their budgets – normally once a year – for publication on the website.
McCuskey said technically it’s possible to track how municipalities distribute the funds, but it would require a lot of buy-in from places that may not have the manpower to participate. Unless that changes, the only real way to see how municipalities spend their shares of the funds is to watch the individual meetings where local governments approve how the money is distributed.
For now, McCuskey said it is critical – both as auditor and as a candidate for attorney general – to ensure that the places that receive the largest sums of money also spend it responsibly.
“I think the strategy really has to be that we do our best as often as we can and focus on the big wins. You see, 80% of them are either in the foundation or in Charleston or Huntington or Morgantown or [Monongalia] County, Harrison County, Cabell County, you name it,” McCuskey said. “We really need to work to make sure that the big counties, the big cities, the places where the largest amounts of these funds have gone, remain as transparent as possible.”
The First Foundation regularly meets on the first Thursday of every month. However, due to Independence Day, the July meeting was canceled. The organization will next meet on August 1 via Zoom.
