Fort Lee

Summary

Fort Lee Borough, Bergen County, told the State it had received 365,755.27 in opioid settlement money 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 listed uses cover treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction.

The Borough's opioid accounts show 180,641.36 paid from 12/07/2023 through 09/02/2026, and one open Stryker order for 43,757.80. This project classifies the payments this way.

The FY2026 report certifies the Stryker equipment as an opioid treatment program. The FY2025 report leaves out a payment made in the year. The FY2024 report counts part of a payment as spent and calls the rest encumbered. Read the Borough's findings.

What the Borough told the State

The four reports certify 169,241.36 spent. The books show 180,641.36 paid in the same years. The difference, 11,400.00, is the 6,900.00 the FY2024 report did not count and the 4,500.00 Seton Hall payment the FY2025 report left out.

The FY2023 report is accurate. It certifies nothing spent by 06/30/2023, and the first payment from the opioid line was on 12/07/2023. The FY2026 report's total also ties. Eight payments in the year make its 165,166.36 to the cent. The problem in FY2026 is what the report calls the purchase.

The AED and LUCAS machines

The FY2025 report told the State the Borough was "looking to purchase equipment for medical assistance in times of opioid abuse." On 10/14/2025 the Borough wrote Stryker purchase order 25-05183. Check 15972 paid it on 01/15/2026. Every line on the order reads only "QUOTE."

The FY2026 report certifies a program named "Purchase of AED machines, LUCAS machines, and OPIOID emergency kits" at 160,666.36. That is the three Stryker lines on the opioid accounts plus four V.E. Ralph & Son invoices of 3,071.24, to the cent. The report names the Police, Fire and EMTs as recipient. It gives the primary category as Treatment and the Schedule B strategy as First Responders. It counts 0 individuals served.

An AED is a defibrillator. A LUCAS machine is a mechanical CPR device. Both treat cardiac arrest. Neither treats opioid use disorder. The First Responders strategy in Exhibit E adds two uses to the first-responder items in sections C, D and H: education of first responders on handling fentanyl and other drugs, and wellness support for first responders. No listed use in C, D, H or I covers defibrillators or CPR devices, and no overdose program using this equipment is documented. Certified AED and LUCAS machines as opioid treatment.

The V.E. Ralph invoices carry invoice numbers only. Check 14639 of 09/18/2025 paid two of them from the opioid grant account and six other V.E. Ralph invoices from Borough operating lines, five of them from the Ambulance Corps operating line. Check 15146 of 11/06/2025 paid one invoice from the grant account and one from the Ambulance Corps operating line. The report's description mentions naloxone kits for the police and EMTs. If the invoices bought naloxone, that is a listed use. The record does not say, so this project counts them as unverified.

The Borough has paid Stryker from its current fund in every year from 2018 to 2026, for ambulance supplies, operational items and equipment repairs. On 08/25/2026 it entered a second Stryker order against the opioid line, 26-04072, for 43,757.80, described only as "OPIOID SUPPLIES." It was received 08/28/2026 and unpaid on 09/02/2026.

The fourth line of the October order, 65,729.41, went through accounts payable on the same check. The FY2026 report does not include it. The Borough has not produced the accounts payable detail, so which appropriation paid it is not in the record.

FY2025, a Seton Hall payment left out

The FY2025 report certifies 975.00 spent, one program called Fort Lee High School Opioid Awareness. Check 10749 to the Board of Education for 975.00 on 10/17/2024 ties to it.

The opioid line also carried Seton Hall University order 24-05880 for 4,500.00, entered 11/19/2024 and open at year end. The line's 34,565.00 appropriation less 10,975.00 paid and the 4,500.00 order left exactly 19,090.00, the amount that became the opioid grant account. Seton Hall's vendor report shows the order paid by check 12743 on 03/21/2025, inside the FY2025 year, through accounts payable. No report lists that payment. The same FY2025 report says the Borough is sending officers to training courses through Seton Hall University. Left a 4,500.00 Seton Hall payment out of FY2025 spending.

The ledger names only the invoice for this first course, so this project counts it as unverified.

FY2024, one payment and two answers

The FY2024 report certifies 3,100.00 spent and 0.00 encumbered for 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024. Its program page lists a Substance Use Prevention Program with the Board of Education and the Municipal Alliance at 10,000.00, of which 3,100.00 is spent and 6,900.00 encumbered or appropriated.

The opioid line shows one payment in that year, 10,000.00 to the Fort Lee Board of Education by check 7283 on 12/07/2023. Nothing was open on the line at 06/30/2024. The report's own on-hand figure, 175,017.59, is the 185,017.59 received less the full 10,000.00. No later report counts the other 6,900.00 as spent. Reported 3,100.00 of a 10,000.00 payment as spent.

The ledger describes both Board of Education payments only as money to be used by the Board or for opioid. The reports describe speakers and awareness programs at Fort Lee High School. No program record from the Board has been produced, so this project counts the 10,975.00 as unverified.

The second Seton Hall course

The FY2026 report certifies Police Department Training through Seton Hall University at 4,500.00. It describes the course as Operational Readiness for Police Officers, practical strategies for addressing opioid use disorder and co-occurring conditions, for 10 officers. Check 15123 on 11/06/2025 is that figure to the cent. Training police to address the needs of people with opioid use disorder is among the uses Exhibit E lists. Seton Hall police course ties to one check.

Where the fund has gone

What should happen

The Borough can restore the 157,595.12 to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program. The 43,757.80 Stryker order was still unpaid on 09/02/2026, and the Borough can cancel it against the opioid line.

The State relies on these reports to verify how the money is used. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2024, 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.