Lower Saucon Township (Township) appeals an order of the Northhampton County Court of Common Pleas (trial court) requiring the Township to disclose the terms of a settlement agreement between itself and John Werner (Werner) to The Morning Call pursuant to the Right to Know Act, Act of June 21, 1957, P.L. 390, as amended, 65 P.S. §§ 66.1-66.4.
On February 14, 1991, Werner filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania1 against the Township, alleging his civil rights were violated by Township police officers. The Township reached an out-of-court settlement (Settlement Agreement) with Werner in which he was compensated by the Township’s Comprehensive Law Enforcement Liability Insurance policy issued by Scottsdale Insurance Company (insurance carrier).2 The Settlement Agreement provided that none of the parties were to disclose its terms. Because the Township had a Five Thousand Dollar ($5,000) deductible, it was required to pay that portion of the award. However, it did not pay that amount directly to Werner, but to its insurance carrier.
The Morning Call, a newspaper of general circulation in Northhampton County, requested the Township make the Settlement Agreement available for inspection as a “public record” under Sections 1(2) and 2 of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act.3 Based upon the non-disclosure clause in the *400Settlement Agreement, the Township refused to allow it to be inspected or copied.4 The Morning Call filed an appeal5 with the trial court, seeking an order requiring the Township to disclose the terms of the Settlement Agreement and joined Werner as a party. Both the Township and Werner opposed the request, asserting that the Settlement Agreement did not fall within the definition of a “public record” as defined in the Right to Know Act.6
The trial court granted The Morning Call’s appeal, holding that the Township’s Settlement Agreement with Werner was a public record both because it created a contractual obligation that required the Township to compensate Werner and it was also a record of a decision or order that affected Werner’s rights. The trial court ordered the Township to make the Settlement Agreement available for examination and *401inspection by The Morning Call. This appeal followed.7
On appeal, the Township contends that the trial court erred in holding that the Settlement Agreement was a “public record”8 because it did not require the Township to disburse public funds directly to Werner.9 For a settlement agreement to be a public record, the Township contends that it has to result in the direct payment of funds to the named defendant. The Township further argues that even though it was obligated to pay Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) to the insurance carrier to cover its deductible as a result of the settlement, that transaction was separate and apart from the Settlement Agreement. In effect, the Township is asserting that a governmental body can make a contract not a public record by having someone else initially pay the money the governmental body is obligated to pay, even though it later reimburses the party that paid its obligation created by the now non-public agreement.
The Township’s interpretation of what is a public contract, however, is directly contrary to the plain language of the Right to Know Act. Section 66.1 defines a public record, in part, as a contract “dealing with” the disbursement of public *402funds, not merely one disbursing public funds directly to the other party. By using this language, the General Assembly indicated that as long as the contract dealt with the possible appropriation of public funds, the contract was a public record subject to inspection.10
*403Here, the Township signed the Settlement Agreement, making it obligated to pay the entire settlement if its insurance carrier failed to do so. For that reason alone, the document is a public record. Not only did the Settlement Agreement make the Township obligated to satisfy Werner’s claim if the insurance carrier did not, the Settlement Agreement obligated it to make an appropriation of public money. It required the Township to pay Werner the Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) that the insurance company was not obligated to pay under the terms of the insurance policy. Paying the money to the insurance carrier and not directly to Werner does not change the fact that it was used to satisfy the Township obligation, and, “laundering” it through the insurance carrier does not somehow change the character of those funds from public to private. Because it obligates the Town*404ship to disburse public funds to satisfy an obligation, the Settlement Agreement is a public record and subject to public inspection and copying.11
Accordingly, the well-reasoned decision and order of Judge Robert A. Freedberg of the Northhampton County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
ORDER
AND NOW, this 24th day of June, 1993, the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Northhampton County dated August 13, 1992, No. 1992-C-3260, is affirmed.