City of Plainfield
The City of Plainfield paid 194,756.18 of opioid settlement money for its 2025 house music festival, certified the festival to the State as opioid prevention, and certified 64,760.20 to an Iris House program that was paid 15,000.00.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- The City of Plainfield paid 194,756.18 from its opioid settlement accounts for the 2025 Lenny Cathcart House Music Festival. The money bought a stage, a drone show, fireworks, restroom trailers, 1,000 t-shirts, DJs, police coverage and City payroll.
- Its FY2026 report to the State certified the festival as Primary Prevention, Education, and Training, at 144,995.98.
- The same report certified 64,760.20 to an Iris House program for housing women. Iris House was paid 15,000.00.
- Those two certified figures add up, to the cent, to every payment from the settlement accounts that year.
- The City's own payroll system names the settlement account HOUSE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025 OPIOID GRANT.
Treatment, recovery and harm reduction providers got 15,000.00 that year. The festival got almost thirteen times that.
Summary
The City of Plainfield, Union County, reported receiving 621,573.60 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 City appropriated 441,955.45 of that money to two grant accounts, G-02-22-275-615-440 at 61,898.95 and G-02-25-275-615-440 at 380,056.50. Through 05/28/2026, the date the City printed them, the two accounts paid 269,218.18 and held 45,366.00 in open orders.
| Classification | Paid |
|---|---|
| Conforming, a police course on opioid use disorder and Iris House | 73,500.00 |
| Non-conforming, the house music festival and Pride event refreshments | 195,718.18 |
| Unverified | 0.00 |
| Paid through 05/28/2026 | 269,218.18 |
The City's FY2026 report to the Department of Human Services certifies the festival as opioid prevention. It certifies more than four times what Iris House was paid as Iris House housing. Its FY2025 report certifies ice cream and lemonade at a Pride event as overdose harm reduction. Read the City's findings.
What the City told the State
| Report | Received in the year | Certified spent | Programs named |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 60,000.00 | N/A | Narcan for the Police Department, funding N/A |
| FY2024 | 275,215.27 | 0.00 | None |
| FY2025 | 155,481.13 | 59,462.00 | 2025 Plainfield Pride Event 962.00, Training of Police Officers 58,500.00 |
| FY2026 | 130,877.20 | 209,756.18 | IRIS House a Center for Women 64,760.20, 2025 House Music Festival 144,995.98, JFK EMS 0.00 |
The FY2023 and FY2024 reports agree with the books. Neither account paid anything before 03/04/2025. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports add that Narcan is provided for free and that the original 60,000.00 for it was canceled.
The FY2025 figure of 59,462.00 is four checks to the cent, the police course at 58,500.00 and three Pride event payments. The FY2025 report also certifies 382,493.45 appropriated or encumbered. That is the unspent balance of the two grant appropriations, which the question allows.
The FY2026 figure of 209,756.18 is the 48 payments on the two accounts from 07/01/2025 through 05/28/2026, to the cent. The total is right. What the report says the money paid for is not.
The festival
The Lenny Cathcart House Music Festival is a City event held at Cedar Brook Park. On 06/05/2025 the City's Director of Health and Social Services asked the Business Administrator to approve the stage and sound contract for the 2025 festival, funded from account G-02-25-275-615-440. The memo calls the festival "the signature event in the City of Plainfield" and says the City "is the only municipality that hosts a house music festival with a focus on health." It describes that focus as health care screening. It does not mention opioids.
The settlement account paid for the festival.
| Payee | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Amazing Drone Shows | Drone light show, check 61945 | 35,000.00 |
| Best Kept Secrets Entertainment | Stage, sound, lighting, DJ equipment, billboard, check 61917 | 28,640.00 |
| United Site Services | Restroom trailers, toilets, sinks, attendants, check 62472 | 22,085.00 |
| Garden State Fireworks | Fireworks, 16,500.00 of a 30,000.00 show, check 62419 | 16,500.00 |
| Extra Duty Solutions | Police officers at Cedar Brook Park on 09/20/2025, check 62170 | 14,830.20 |
| Six DJs | Seven orders | 13,500.00 |
| Minuteman Press | 1,000 festival t-shirts, check 61951 | 12,045.80 |
| Visual Computer Solutions | Union County officers at the festival, check 62607 | 8,262.54 |
| City of Plainfield | Payroll charged to the account | 6,611.81 |
| TTT Enterprises | The Mayor's tent | 5,310.00 |
| Other vendors and staff | Printing, giveaways, MC, interpreter, dance floors, shuttle, rentals, social media corner, staff meals, supplies, gift cards | 31,970.83 |
| Total | 194,756.18 |
The fireworks bill was split. The order puts 16,500.00 of the 30,000.00 show on the settlement account and 13,500.00 on another City account. The Extra Duty Solutions check also paid 1,262.25 for officers at City Hall Plaza on 09/18/2025, charged to City account 5-01-25-240-002-120. The officers at the festival went to the settlement account.
The FY2026 report certifies the festival as a program named 2025 House Music Festival, recipients "Various vendors", primary category Primary Prevention, Education, and Training. It reports 144,995.98 spent and 6,000 people served. It gives 9/27/2025 as the date the program was funded and launched. The police invoices and the drone contract put the festival on 09/20/2025, with 09/27/2025 as the rain date. The report's goals answer describes the opioid content as an "Opioid booth at House Music Festival."
The drone order adds the tag line "Opioid Awareness Saves Lives." The t-shirt order puts an opioid awareness logo on one sleeve and a prostate cancer logo on the other. The gift card orders say the cards were giveaways for men tested at the festival's testing tent and cite prostate cancer screening.
No prevention program is documented in any of these records. A music festival is not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Certified a house music festival as opioid prevention.
The Iris House figure
The FY2026 report certifies a program named IRIS House a Center for Women at 64,760.20 spent. It names the recipients as "Various vendor", the category as Housing and the purpose as "Housing Women", with 10 people served.
Iris House A Center for Women Living with HIV, Inc. was paid once in the year. Check 62090 for 15,000.00 on 09/23/2025 was a first draw down on purchase order 25-05217, 3,398.95 from the 2022 account and 11,601.05 from the 2025 account. The award application cover page the City produced with it names the Iris House Seeking Safety Harm Reduction Program, not housing. This project classifies the 15,000.00 as conforming.
Three Iris House orders were still open on 05/28/2026, for 15,000.00, 3,000.00 and 25,000.00. Had all three been paid in June 2026, Iris House would have received 58,000.00 in the year. The report certifies 64,760.20. The other 49,760.20 in that figure is festival spending. Certified 64,760.20 to Iris House, which was paid 15,000.00.
The payroll account
The City's ledger calls account G-02-25-275-615-440 the 2025 OPIOID GRANT. The City's payroll system calls it the HOUSE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2025 OPIOID GRANT. Its labor distribution for 10/02/2025 to 10/16/2025 charges 6,611.81 of wages to that account, 130.50 hours for 15 employees in Legislation, Finance, Health and Social Services, Communications and Technology, Economic Development, Fire and Public Works. The ledger shows the same 6,611.81 in two postings. No substance use program employing these staff is documented. Payroll system names the account a music festival grant.
The Pride event
The FY2025 report certifies a program named 2025 Plainfield Pride Event at 962.00, under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. It says Narcan kits were given away at the event. The account paid 576.00 for ice cream, 126.00 for free lemonades and 260.00 to a food vendor with no description printed, all on 06/12/2025, 962.00 to the cent. No purchase of naloxone appears on either account in any year. Certified Pride event ice cream as overdose harm reduction.
The police course
The FY2025 report certifies Training of Police Officers at 58,500.00. Resolution R434-24 of 11/12/2024 approved Seton Hall University's Stillman School of Business, with ZSchool, to train police officers on addressing opioid use disorder. The produced curriculum covers the signs of opioid use disorder, naloxone, co-occurring mental health conditions, referral to treatment and harm reduction. Check 58952 paid 58,500.00 on 03/04/2025, the quote for 130 officers at 450.00 each. The Stillman School invoice of 02/10/2025 bills 58,050.00 at the same rate. This project classifies the course as conforming. Police opioid use disorder course ties to one check.
What should happen
The City spent 195,718.18 of settlement money on a music festival and event refreshments. It can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
Three festival orders for 2,366.00 were still open on 05/28/2026. The City can cancel them against the settlement account.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2026 report, who prepared it, and what records support it.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.