Tenafly Borough

Summary

Tenafly Borough, Bergen County, reports receiving 93,907.82 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 keeps the money in a budget line it calls OPIOID GRANT, opened fresh each year. The Borough produced its account prints for 2022 to 2026, printed 06/02/2026. They show 9,814.06 paid and 3,790.00 open across seven lines.

This project classifies the 699.00 movie screening as non-conforming. A film screening is not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Everything else, 9,115.06 paid and 3,790.00 open, is unverified. The FY2024 report describes the school presentation as drug addiction education for students and parents, but no contract, invoice text or course material shows what it covered. The record does not say what the training classes taught or what the medical safety equipment was. Nothing paid is classified conforming.

What the Borough told the State

The FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 spending figures match the books. FY2024's 5,500.00 is the MJPB Consulting check. The report dates the program 06/04/2024, two weeks after the check.

The FY2024 report says how the Borough handles the money. Receipts go to an unappropriated reserve, and the next year the Borough appropriates them as a revenue grant. The 18,956.00 it reported as appropriated or encumbered that year is 3,762.00 left on the 2023 appropriation plus 15,194.00 of 2024 opioid revenue. No order was open. The only order on any opioid line before 10/14/2025 was the MJPB Consulting order, paid 05/21/2024. The program page certifies 0.00 encumbered. The same report's 51,255.86 unspent and uncommitted is 56,755.86 received less 5,500.00 spent, so it counts the 18,956.00 as uncommitted as well. Reported 18,956.00 as committed with no order open.

FY2025, the budget number reported as cash

The FY2025 report certifies 47,523.00 of unspent funds on hand. The same report certifies 77,424.52 received since 2022 and nothing spent in the year. The only spending ever certified before it was 5,500.00. By the Borough's own figures it held 71,924.52.

The 47,523.00 is the figure in the Borough's 2025 budget. The 2025 OPIOID revenue line realized 47,523.00. The 2025 OPIOID GRANT appropriation was adopted at 47,523.00 on 05/06/2025. Nothing was paid from any opioid line between 05/21/2024 and 11/10/2025.

The same report certifies 0.00 appropriated or encumbered. The year before, the Borough reported its unspent appropriations there. In FY2025 the 47,523.00 appropriation stood unspent, and the report put it on the unspent line instead. Reported its 2025 budget insertion as unspent funds.

FY2026

The State published the Borough's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 11,481.84 spent, 13,692.66 appropriated or encumbered and 76,925.98 unspent on hand.

The spent figure has three parts.

Movie Night in the Park ties to the books. Premiere Productions was paid 699.00 for Movies under the Stars on 05/19/2026. The report says 1,000 people attended, with opioid prevention videos, giveaways and recovery organizations on hand. It files the screening under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training, with six Schedule B strategies. The 699.00 is the only purchase for the event in the books. A film screening is not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Certified a movie night as opioid prevention.

The Jr. Police Academy is reported at 13,692.66, funded 06/22/2026, for students in grades 6 to 8. The report says it "educates youth on police procedures and encourages good citizenship." It reports 5 individuals served. It lists ten Schedule B strategies for the program, among them Treat Opioid Use Disorder and Support People in Treatment and Recovery. The program page splits the 13,692.66 into 4,302.71 spent on supplies and 9,389.95 not yet spent.

The report's appropriated or encumbered figure is the full 13,692.66. The 4,302.71 the report counts as spent is counted again as not yet spent. Counted 4,302.71 as both spent and not yet spent.

The report's 76,925.98 unspent and uncommitted is 93,907.82 received less the 16,981.84 certified spent across all years. Nothing is deducted for the money the academy page calls committed, 9,389.95. On the report's own program figures the uncommitted balance is at most 67,536.03. Counted committed academy money as uncommitted.

The report files 6,480.13 as administrative expense and says it was for L.E.A.D. Training Classes. The books show L.E.A.D. Inc paid 2,250.00 on 11/10/2025, with orders for 1,540.00 and 2,250.00 open on 06/02/2026. That is 6,040.00. The other 440.13 is not in the print. Training classes are a program cost. Filed as administration, they carry no program block, no recipient and no count of people served. Filed L.E.A.D. training classes as administrative expense.

What the records do not show

The produced prints stop at 06/02/2026, four weeks before the State's fiscal year closed. They show 4,314.06 paid in FY2026 against the 11,481.84 certified. The academy was funded on 06/22/2026, after the print. Its 4,302.71 of supplies does not appear in it. The Amazon orders for medical safety equipment, 1,365.06, are the only supply purchases the prints show. Whether they belong to the academy is not in the record.

The Borough has not produced records after 06/02/2026.

What should happen

The FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports do not follow from the Borough's own figures. The Department of Human Services should examine the three reports and the records behind them. The Borough can document what the presentation, the training classes, the medical safety equipment and the academy supplies were, and what opioid program each one serves.

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