Dumont Borough
Dumont Borough spent its settlement money on school prevention, but its reports to the State doubled one purchase, understated the next year's spending, counted paid bills as commitments and gave budget line balances as money on hand.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Dumont paid 5,286.00 for Fatal Vision goggles in the year ending 06/30/2025. It told the State it spent 10,572.00. That is exactly twice the one payment.
- The report gave the spending to the Dumont Junior Police Academy. The Academy's clothing and pizza were paid from the police budget, not the settlement fund.
- The FY2026 report calls 12,950.00 encumbered but not yet spent. 6,700.00 of it was already paid. The rest was ordered after the year closed. Nothing was open at 06/30/2026.
- The FY2026 report certifies 2,834.65 spent. The settlement line paid 6,700.00 in the same year, for a freshman opioid presentation and a peer leadership registration.
- Two years running, the figure the Borough gave as money on hand is a budget line balance. On its own reports, the gap in FY2026 is 80,023.94.
- The spending itself is small. 18,236.00 has left the fund, all of it on student prevention.
Summary
Dumont Borough, Bergen County, reported receiving 136,009.59 in opioid settlement money from 2022 through 06/30/2026. The money must go to the abatement uses the national settlements list, or to documented evidence-based programs that address the epidemic. It must add to local spending, not replace it.
The Borough's settlement lines show four payments through 09/04/2026, 18,236.00 in all. Two school opioid speakers from MJPB Consulting, 12,100.00, are prevention for students. A set of Fatal Vision impairment goggles, 5,286.00, and an NJ Elks Association peer leadership registration, 850.00, are unverified. The record does not show how they were used.
The problem is the reports. The FY2025 report doubles the one purchase. The FY2026 report certifies less than the books show paid and lists paid bills and a later order as open commitments. Both reports give a budget line balance as the money on hand. Read the Borough's findings.
Where the money went
| Date | Payee | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05/06/2025 | Innocorp, Ltd. | Fatal Vision items | 5,286.00 |
| 09/25/2025 | MJPB Consulting | Freshman opioid presentation | 5,850.00 |
| 01/14/2026 | NJ Elks Association | Peer leadership registration | 850.00 |
| 08/11/2026 | MJPB Consulting | High school opioid speaker | 6,250.00 |
| Total | 18,236.00 |
The Innocorp payment came from account 4-01-41-999-999. The other three came from account 5-01-41-999-999. Both are named National Opioid Settlement. A third line, 6-01-41-999-999, was appropriated 17,571.00 on 05/19/2026 and had no charge through 05/28/2026, the last date printed for it.
What the Borough told the State
| Year | Received in year | Certified spent | Certified encumbered | Certified on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 16,979.77 | 0.00 | ||
| FY2024 | 33,871.82 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50,851.59 |
| FY2025 | 42,579.00 | 10,572.00 | 0.00 | 59,205.00 |
| FY2026 | 42,579.00 | 2,834.65 | 12,950.00 | 29,629.00 |
FY2023 and FY2024 agree with the books. No money left the settlement lines before 05/06/2025. The FY2023 report listed a program named L.E.A.D.S., recipient the Dumont Police Department, at 16,979.77, with a funding date of 10/01/2023. The FY2024 report said the money would be used through the LEAD program. No payment to that program appears on any produced line.
FY2025: one purchase, counted twice
The FY2025 report covers 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025. It certifies 10,572.00 expended. Its one program is the Dumont Junior Police Academy, certified at 10,572.00 funded and spent, with the Academy itself named as the recipient.
The settlement lines paid one bill in that period. Innocorp, Ltd. was paid 5,286.00 for Fatal Vision items on purchase order 25-00559, check 112070, on 05/06/2025. Twice 5,286.00 is 10,572.00.
The Borough's audit trail prints the purchase twice. It appears once as requisition R25-0507 on 04/07/2025, marked as not included in the balance, and once as the payment. The two rows add to the certified figure. The Innocorp vendor history from 01/01/2018 shows no other payment to the company. Certified 10,572.00 spent when the books show 5,286.00.
The Junior Police Academy has its own budget. The municipal Police Crime Prevention Bureau line paid Academy costs every year from 2022 to 2026, for shirts, clothing, bags, uniforms, ice and pizza. In the FY2025 period that was 724.50 for graduation pizza and 3,696.00 for clothing and bags, both on 07/09/2024. None of the Academy's costs were charged to the settlement fund.
The same report certifies 59,205.00 on hand. That is the balance of the two settlement lines at 06/30/2025, 16,626.00 plus 42,579.00. On the report's own figures, 93,430.59 received less 10,572.00 spent leaves 82,858.59. The 28,939.59 never appropriated to either line appears in no certified figure. Reported two budget line balances as money on hand.
FY2026
The State published the Borough's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026.
The report certifies 2,834.65 spent, all on one program, a DEA prescription drug take back run by the Police Department. No produced settlement line shows a 2,834.65 charge. The line that paid in the period shows 6,700.00, the freshman presentation and the Elks registration. The report names the freshman presentation as its goal for the year but puts neither payment in a program. The 2024 and 2026 lines are printed only to 05/28/2026, so a take back charge after that date is not ruled out. It would add to the 6,700.00, not replace it. Certified 2,834.65 spent when the books show 6,700.00 paid.
The report certifies 12,950.00 encumbered but not yet spent.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| MJPB Consulting, check 112675, paid 09/25/2025 | 5,850.00 |
| NJ Elks Association, check 113195, paid 01/14/2026 | 850.00 |
| MJPB Consulting, ordered 07/10/2026, paid 08/11/2026 | 6,250.00 |
| Certified encumbered | 12,950.00 |
Two of the three were paid inside the year. The third was ordered after it ended. Nothing was open on the line at 06/30/2026. Certified paid bills and a later order as encumbered.
The report certifies 29,629.00 on hand. That is the balance the audit trail prints for account 5-01-41-999-999 after the 08/11/2026 payment. It leaves out the 16,626.00 on the 2024 line and the 17,571.00 on the 2026 line.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certified received since 2022 | 136,009.59 |
| Certified spent, all four reports | 13,406.65 |
| Certified encumbered, FY2026 | 12,950.00 |
| Left on the reports' own figures | 109,652.94 |
| Certified on hand | 29,629.00 |
| Difference | 80,023.94 |
Reported one budget line balance as all money on hand.
What the records do not show
The Borough has produced no record of its settlement receipts. The figures received above are the Borough's own. Its records do not show the L.E.A.D.S. program it named in FY2023, what the Fatal Vision goggles were used for, or what the 2,834.65 take back figure paid.
What should happen
The spending on the books is student prevention. The reports to the State do not describe it. The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services should examine the FY2025 and FY2026 reports and the records behind them.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.