Oakland Borough

Summary

Oakland Borough, Bergen County, reports receiving 73,291.14 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 account is G-02-22-790-001, National Opioid Settlement Approp Rsrv. Its Budget Transaction Audit Trail from 01/01/2019 to 09/10/2026 shows a 77,385.62 appropriation, eleven vendor payments totaling 26,805.00 and a balance of 50,580.62. It shows no journal, transfer or payroll entry. No payment left the account after 06/09/2026.

L.E.A.D. is Law Enforcement Against Drugs, a school drug prevention curriculum that police officers teach. The FY2023 report describes it as a known statewide program geared towards alcohol and drug use prevention, taught by officers. It is not Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, the LEAD model Exhibit E names.

Of the 26,805.00, this project classifies 26,055.00 as non-conforming and 750.00, a K to 12 curriculum order, as unverified. Read the Borough's findings.

What the Borough told the State

Every report certifies 0.00 of administrative expense. Each spending figure equals the payments from the account in that year to the cent. Each 0.00 encumbered is true at 06/30, because every order was paid before the year closed. The FY2024 on-hand figure is 27.00 more than that report's receipts less the spending certified through it. The FY2025 figure is exact.

The four trips

First Student was paid 600.00 on 06/13/2023 and 400.00 on 05/13/2024 for buses for the first two trips. None of the four reports names Dave & Buster's or a trip.

The Borough's own vendor report for Dave & Buster's shows its summer camp trips to the same venue from 2022 to 2026. They cost 1,227.64 to 2,294.10 a trip and were paid from recreation accounts. The LEAD trips cost 4,588.20 to 6,256.23 each and were paid from the settlement account.

The records produced do not show what the trips bought or who attended. No evidence-based prevention program built around the outing is documented, and no listed use covers an arcade outing. 80 percent of settlement spending went to arcade trips.

FY2023

The FY2023 report certifies 5,188.20 expended as of 06/30/2023. It lists one program, L.E.A.D., and names the Oakland Municipal Alliance as the recipient. It gives the problem as drug use among K-12 students, reports approximately 200 clients seen and gives the launch date as January 2023. It states the reason for the spending in one line. "Gives the students an opportunity to bond with the officers that teach the program in a drug/alcohol free environment."

The account paid two vendors that year, both on 06/13/2023. Dave & Buster's received 4,588.20 for the LEAD Trip. First Student received 600.00 for its buses. The two payments make the certified figure to the cent. No payment went to the Municipal Alliance. Reported an arcade trip as a K-12 prevention program.

FY2024

The FY2024 report lists a new program named LEAD at 6,881.59. It files the program under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, with the Schedule B strategy Prevent Misuse of Opioids and one training or education session as its indicator. It gives 04/17/2024 as both the funding date and the launch date. That is the day the Dave & Buster's order and the bus order for that year were first encumbered.

The account paid 6,117.60 to Dave & Buster's, a net 400.00 to First Student and 363.99 to L.E.A.D. for the L.E.A.D. Summit 2024. The three payments make the certified figure to the cent. Exhibit E's harm reduction uses are naloxone, overdose education, syringe services and related care. None of the three payments is one of them. Certified an arcade trip as overdose harm reduction.

FY2025

The FY2025 report certifies 4,588.20 expended and says the Borough funded no new program. It reports the money as further spending on LEAD, with the indicator "Working with young adults to explain the dangers." The only payment from the account that year is check 1974, 4,588.20 to Dave & Buster's for LEAD TRIP 2025, on 06/12/2025. Certified a third arcade trip as youth awareness work.

FY2026

The State published the Borough's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 10,147.01 spent, 0.00 encumbered and 50,580.62 on hand. It names the Police Chief and the Administrator as the officials who decided the spending.

The report lists one program, L.E.A.D., at 10,147.01. It names L.E.A.D. as the only recipient and gives the purpose as education for children and young adults from 0 to 18, with 50 people served and 4 sessions. The account paid five items in the year.

The five payments make the certified figure to the cent. 8,756.23 of it went to the arcade outing and to a membership in a crime tip-line organization. Neither was paid to the recipient the report names. No program either one serves is documented. Certified an arcade trip and a tip-line fee as education.

Where the L.E.A.D. costs were paid before

From 2019 to early 2023 the Borough paid for L.E.A.D. from its Municipal Alliance accounts. The vendor report for L.E.A.D. and the Alliance ledger show it.

On 01/01/2023 the Borough cancelled 16,006.88 of prior-year receivable balances on the Alliance's County account. No Alliance account paid L.E.A.D. after 02/06/2023. The settlement account then paid the trip buses in 2023 and 2024, the L.E.A.D. Summit 2024, Too Good For Drugs Grade 6 in 2026 and the 2026 LEAD Conference. Those five payments total 2,004.77.

The Alliance's local match account held 12,178.22 when the 2024 registration was ordered and 9,541.22 when the 2026 orders were placed. The Alliance kept paying for dances, project graduations and apparel. The settlement money carried costs the Borough had paid from its Municipal Alliance accounts for years. Moved L.E.A.D. costs off the Municipal Alliance accounts.

Three launch dates

The FY2023 report gives the program's launch date as January 2023. The FY2024 report lists LEAD as a new program launched 04/17/2024, and says in the same report that the 2023 program was run again in 2024. The FY2026 report lists L.E.A.D. as a new program launched 9/1/2023. The Alliance ledger shows the L.E.A.D. order of 01/31/2019 and the LEAD trip buses of 06/12/2019. Gave the State three launch dates for a 2019 program.

What should happen

The Borough can restore the 21,550.23 paid to Dave & Buster's, the 1,000.00 of trip buses and the 2,500.00 Crime Stoppers membership to the fund, and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program. It can produce the invoices that show what the trips bought and who attended.

The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2023 to FY2026 reports, who prepared them, and what records support the programs they describe.

How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.