Ridgefield Park Village
Ridgefield Park certified 6,875.00 of speaker spending in FY2024 and FY2025 that its settlement account never paid, and none of its three balance figures follows from its own receipts and books.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- The Village told the State it spent 2,500.00 on a speaker in FY2024 and 4,375.00 on speakers in FY2025.
- Its settlement account paid nothing until 09/29/2025.
- No payment of 2,500.00 or 4,375.00 appears on the account in any year.
- The FY2025 program page was last updated 09/08/2025. The account's first order came 16 days later.
- The FY2024 report put 34,375.00 on hand. That is 1,023.89 more than the Village says it had ever received.
- The FY2025 report put 36,031.18 on hand. The account had paid nothing, so the Village held all 53,050.32 it reported receiving.
- The FY2026 spending figure is right. It certifies 15,700.00, and three payments make that figure to the cent. Its balance is not. It fits neither the books nor the reports.
Four reports certify 22,575.00 spent. The account has paid 15,700.00.
Summary
Ridgefield Park Village, Bergen County, reported receiving 55,495.20 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026, interest included. 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 Village produced one settlement account, 01-9000-24-1012 National Opioids. It carries a 30,000.00 budget. Through 08/31/2026 it shows three payments, all to speakers, for 15,700.00. Nothing is encumbered and 14,300.00 is unspent. No revenue account was produced, and the Village did not state that this is its only settlement account.
What the account paid
| Date | Check | Order | Payee | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/29/2025 | 63867 | 63900 | I'm Just a Kid with an IEP LLC | Speaking engagement 2.2.26 | 5,500.00 |
| 09/29/2025 | 63867 | 63942 | I'm Just a Kid with an IEP LLC | Invoice 1031 2/2/2025 speaking engagement | 5,500.00 |
| 10/03/2025 | 63958 | 63992 | MJPB Consulting LLC | Invoice 1159979 opioid prevention and mental health | 4,700.00 |
| Total | 15,700.00 |
The MJPB Consulting invoice describes opioid prevention. The two other ledger lines name no topic and no audience. No contract, invoice or event notice for any of the three was produced. This project counts the MJPB payment, 4,700.00, as conforming. It counts the two speaking engagements, 11,000.00, as unverified. The record does not show what they covered.
What the Village told the State
| Report | Period | Received in period | Certified spent | Certified encumbered | Unspent on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | through 06/30/2023 | 9,171.31 | 0.00 | not asked | not asked |
| FY2024 | 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024 | 23,879.80 | 2,500.00 | 0.00 | 34,375.00 |
| FY2025 | 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025 | 19,299.21 | 4,375.00 | 0.00 | 36,031.18 |
| FY2026 | 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026 | 2,019.88 | 15,700.00 | 0.00 | 39,331.66 |
Every report carries one program, Ridgefield Park Drug Prevention & Education. The FY2023 report names the Mayor as its funding recipient and lists 2,000.00 of funding, not yet spent. It says the Village Police will be educated on opioid use and will in turn educate schools and the elderly. Each later report says the money paid for speaking engagements to educate the Village Police on opioid usage.
FY2024 and FY2025
The FY2024 report certifies 2,500.00 spent. Its program note says "The village spent $2,500.00 on a speaking engagement to educate the Ridgefield Park Village Police on Opioid usage."
The FY2025 report certifies 4,375.00 spent, with 0.00 encumbered. Its program note says the village spent 4,375.00 on speaking engagements. The program page was last updated 09/08/2025.
The account shows no payment and no order in either period. Its first order was encumbered 09/24/2025. Its first payment cleared 09/29/2025. Neither 2,500.00 nor 4,375.00 appears on it in any year.
The Village also produced the full payment history for its speaker, I'm Just a Kid with an IEP LLC. It shows two payments ever, both on 09/29/2025, both from the settlement account. One pays an invoice described as a 02/02/2025 speaking engagement. That date falls in the FY2025 period. The payment is 5,500.00, and it was made three months after the period closed. The FY2026 report counts it in FY2026, the year it was paid.
- Certified 4,375.00 of speakers the account never paid
- Certified 2,500.00 spent in a year the account paid nothing
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certified spent, FY2023 | 0.00 |
| Certified spent, FY2024 | 2,500.00 |
| Certified spent, FY2025 | 4,375.00 |
| Certified spent, FY2026 | 15,700.00 |
| Certified spent, all reports | 22,575.00 |
| Paid from the account through 08/31/2026 | 15,700.00 |
| Certified and never paid | 6,875.00 |
The balances
Each report from FY2024 on states how much unspent money the Village has on hand. None of the three figures follows from the Village's own receipts and its account.
| Report | Received since 2022 | Paid from the account by period end | Unspent on the books | Certified on hand | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 33,351.11 | 0.00 | 33,351.11 | 34,375.00 | 1,023.89 above |
| FY2025 | 53,050.32 | 0.00 | 53,050.32 | 36,031.18 | 17,019.14 below |
| FY2026 | 55,495.20 | 15,700.00 | 39,795.20 | 39,331.66 | 463.54 below |
The FY2024 figure is more than every dollar the report says the Village had received. The FY2025 report was last updated 09/08/2025, before the account paid anything, and it certifies 0.00 appropriated or encumbered. The FY2026 figure also misses the reports' own arithmetic. The four reports certify 22,575.00 spent, which would leave 32,920.20, not 39,331.66.
- FY2024 report put 34,375.00 on hand, above all it received
- FY2025 report put 17,019.14 less on hand than it held
- FY2026 on-hand figure fits neither books nor reports
FY2026
The State published the Village's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 15,700.00 spent, 0.00 encumbered and 39,331.66 on hand. The two speaking engagements on check 63867 and the MJPB payment on check 63958 make the spent figure to the cent. Nothing was open on the account at 06/30/2026, and nothing posted to it from 10/04/2025 through 08/31/2026.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.