Secaucus
Secaucus certified 58,260.17 of settlement spending with no spending record produced, and its FY2026 report spends the year's money while reporting the rest gone.
Published 10/04/2026
TLDR
- Secaucus told the State it had 48,298.70 of settlement money on hand at 06/30/2025.
- A year later it reported receiving 17,204.86, spending 17,204.86 and holding 0.00. The 48,298.70 is not accounted for.
- The same FY2026 report says the Town funded no program. Then it lists 17,204.86 spent on one.
- The FY2024 report says the Town held 77,680.32. It also says the Town had received 63,971.07 in total and spent nothing.
- Every report's received total leaves out a 1,088.95 deposit the Town's own listing shows.
- The Town has certified 58,260.17 of spending. It has not produced a spending ledger. One is owed.
Summary
Secaucus Town, Hudson County, State ID NJ209, has filed a settlement report with the Department of Human Services for every year from FY2023 to FY2026. The FY2023 and FY2024 reports certify 0.00 spent. The FY2025 report certifies 41,055.31 spent on one program, the Secaucus Coalition / KAI Coalition. The FY2026 report certifies 17,204.86 more.
The Town produced one record, a Cash Receipts listing of settlement deposits to its Current Fund, one page for each calendar year from 2022 to 2026, printed 06/01/2026. It lists 20 deposits. It lists no payments. The Town has not produced a spending ledger, so this project cannot test any of the 58,260.17 the Town certifies it spent. The receipts listing can test what the reports say the Town received and holds. Read the Town's findings.
What the Town received
The listing posts each deposit on the day the Town recorded it. By the State's fiscal year, which runs 07/01 to 06/30, the deposits are these.
| Fiscal year | Deposits | Amount | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 5 | 21,724.08 | 21,724.08 |
| FY2024 | 4 | 43,335.94 | 65,060.02 |
| FY2025 | 5 | 25,382.94 | 90,442.96 |
| FY2026, to 04/30/2026 | 6 | 16,205.92 | 106,648.88 |
The five page totals on the listing sum to 106,648.88. Every deposit on the 2022 and 2023 pages is printed against the Current Fund. The listing shows no separate settlement account.
What it spent
The Town certifies 41,055.31 spent in FY2025 and 17,204.86 in FY2026, all on the Secaucus Coalition / KAI Coalition. The FY2025 report says the program was funded on 10/01/2024 with 85,000.00, launched on 09/01/2015 and is led by a full time Town employee, the Coalition coordinator. It gives the procurement method as n/a. It claims 150 medicine lockboxes and 10,000 drug disposal packets distributed.
The Town has produced no ledger, purchase order, invoice or check for any of this. This project classifies no payment as conforming, non-conforming or unverified, because none is in the record.
What it told the State
| Report | Received in the year | Received since 2022 | Spent | On hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 20,635.13 | 0.00 | ||
| FY2024 | 43,335.94 | 63,971.07 | 0.00 | 77,680.32 |
| FY2025 | 25,382.94 | 89,354.01 | 41,055.31 | 48,298.70 |
| FY2026 | 17,204.86 | 106,558.87 | 17,204.86 | 0.00 |
The FY2023 form asked for funds received and spent as of 06/30/2023 and had no question on funds on hand. Every report says the Town did not transfer its funds to the county. The FY2023 report says the Town would work with Hudson County on the use of the funds. The FY2024 report answers No to funding any program. The FY2025 report answers No to engaging the public before deciding how to use the money, then describes monthly Coalition meetings at the Public Library open to the public. The FY2026 report answers No to funding any program and updates the Coalition program with 17,204.86 spent.
What the records show
The FY2026 report certifies 17,204.86 received in the year and 17,204.86 spent, to the cent. It certifies 0.00 encumbered and 0.00 on hand. The Town's own reports certify 58,260.17 spent from 2022 to 06/30/2026. Its FY2026 report certifies 106,558.87 received in that time. That leaves 48,298.70, the on-hand figure the FY2025 report certified. The FY2026 report reports it gone without a payment to account for it. Reported 0.00 on hand. Its own figures leave 48,298.70.
The same report answers No when asked whether the Town funded any programs in the year. On the same page it certifies 17,204.86 spent on the Secaucus Coalition / KAI Coalition. Says it funded no program, then lists 17,204.86 on one.
The FY2024 report certifies 63,971.07 received since 2022, nothing spent and 77,680.32 on hand. That is 13,709.25 more than the Town says it ever received. The listing settles where the figure comes from. Deposits through 06/30/2024 total 65,060.02. Add the 12,620.30 deposited on 07/31/2024, a month after the period closed, and the total is 77,680.32 to the cent. The FY2025 report then certifies 48,298.70 on hand. Carried forward from the FY2024 figure, the FY2025 report's own received and spent figures give 62,007.95. Reported 77,680.32 on hand after receiving 63,971.07.
The FY2023 report certifies 20,635.13 received. The listing shows 21,724.08 deposited by 06/30/2023. The report leaves out 1,088.95 deposited on 01/31/2023 and described as EFT NOAT II (NATIONAL OPIOID SETTLEMENT). Every later received total is built on the 20,635.13 and carries the gap. By 04/30/2026 the listing already shows 106,648.88 deposited, 90.01 more than the FY2026 report certifies as received through 06/30/2026. Received figures leave out a 1,088.95 settlement deposit.
The FY2026 report certifies 17,204.86 received in the year. The listing shows 16,205.92 through 04/30/2026. It was printed on 06/01/2026 and does not cover June 2026, so the remaining 998.94 cannot be tested from this record.
What remains open
The Town has certified 58,260.17 of settlement spending and produced no record of a single payment. A spending ledger, or the payroll and purchase records behind the Coalition program, would let this project test every figure the Town certified. That record is owed.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.