Wallington Borough
Wallington Borough's one settlement payment, a 25,999.40 LED sign at Borough Hall, was certified to the State as harm reduction spending in a year that closed before the sign was ordered, and left out of the report for the year it was paid.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Wallington Borough has made one payment from its opioid settlement money. Check 93 paid 25,999.40 on 07/17/2025 for an outdoor LED sign with a programmable message board at Borough Hall.
- The FY2024 report certified the sign as Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, with treatment, recovery and pregnant women strategies.
- It counted the 25,999.40 as spent in the year ending 06/30/2024. The order was placed on 07/01/2024.
- The FY2026 report covers the year the check cleared. It certifies 0.00 spent and no program.
- The same report certifies 0.00 on hand. The Borough's two opioid lines held 15,305.65 unexpended on 05/28/2026.
The only payment the Borough has made from the fund appears in no report for the year it was made.
Summary
Wallington Borough, Bergen County, reports receiving 56,976.63 in opioid settlement money, interest included, 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 Borough produced two settlement lines, G-01-213-55-326-024 and G-01-213-55-326-025, both titled Appropriation Reserve, Opioid Settlement. Together they hold 41,305.05 of appropriations. From 01/01/2022 to the last print of each line, one payment has left them, the 25,999.40 sign. The -025 line has never been charged. No account holding the settlement receipts was produced. Read the Borough's findings.
The sign
The Borough's purchase order inquiry gives the whole chain.
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Purchase order | 24-00804 |
| Vendor | Redmont Sign, LLC, doing business as Stewart Signs |
| Item | Outdoor LED sign, 25,999.40 |
| Order date and first encumbrance | 07/01/2024 |
| Invoice 242734 | dated 12/20/2024 |
| Marked received | 07/15/2025 |
| Paid | check 93, 07/17/2025 |
| Charged to | G-01-213-55-326-024, Appropriation Reserve, Opioid Settlement |
The line item notes cite TIPS contract 22010201. The vendor inquiry lists every purchase order the Borough issued to Redmont Sign from 01/01/2018 to 08/31/2026. There is one, this sign.
What the Borough told the State
The State's reporting year runs 07/01 to 06/30.
| Report | Received, as reported | Certified spent | Paid from the settlement lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 12,218.19 through 06/30/2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2024 | 21,409.68 | 25,999.40 | 0.00 |
| FY2025 | 12,659.63 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2026 | 7,857.41 | 0.00 | 25,999.40 |
The FY2023 report and the books agree. Each later report puts the sign in the wrong year or leaves it out.
FY2024: the sign as harm reduction
The FY2024 report lists one program, Borough of Wallington Opioid Related Messaging, funded and expended at 25,999.40. Its description is "Purchasing and installing an LED sign with programmable message board at Borough Hall." Its duration answer reads "The purchase of the LED sign will be a 1-time capital purchase."
The report files the sign under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. It names five Schedule B strategies, among them Support People in Treatment and Recovery, Connections to Care and Address the Needs of Pregnant or Parenting Women. It lists two indicators. The one for referrals to treatment is blank.
The report also says what the sign is for. It enables "broad communication with the public." The Borough "was in need of an outdoor LED sign at the Borough Hall to program customizable messages for the residents of the Borough, with a focus on messaging that would improve public health and safety for our residents." No campaign, message schedule or program using the sign is documented. Exhibit E names media campaigns to prevent misuse. It does not name municipal signs, and no listed use covers a general purpose message board. Certified a Borough Hall sign as overdose harm reduction.
The report covers 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024. It certifies the 25,999.40 as expended in that period and gives a launch date of 06/30/2024. The purchase order was dated 07/01/2024, the day after the period closed. Check 93 paid it 382 days after the period closed. Reported a sign ordered after year end as FY2024 spending.
The same report certifies 0.00 of unspent money on hand, after 34,726.87 received and 25,999.40 certified spent. Its own figures leave 8,727.47. On the produced lines nothing had been spent. Certified 0.00 on hand. Its own figures leave 8,727.47.
It also gives two answers to one question. Page 1 certifies 0.00 appropriated or encumbered and not yet spent in the period. The program page certifies 45,461.00 for the same period, 10,734.13 more than the report says the Borough had received. No order was open at 06/30/2024. Two encumbered figures in one report: 0.00 and 45,461.00.
FY2025: nothing spent, the order still open
The FY2025 report certifies 0.00 spent. The books agree. The sign order stood open and unpaid all year, and the report certifies 0.00 encumbered.
It certifies 21,387.10 on hand. That is the 8,727.47 the FY2024 figures leave plus the 12,659.63 received in FY2025, to the cent. It leaves out the 1,497.00 of interest the same report counts in its cumulative receipts. FY2025 on hand figure leaves out 1,497.00 of interest.
The report says "We have not yet committed the remaining funds available." Asked about public engagement, it answers "Scrolling messages on the Borough's LED sign as well as funding programs in the Borough's schools and handouts available in Borough Hall." No payment to a school appears on the produced lines.
FY2026: the payment year
The State published the Borough's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026, the year check 93 paid for the sign. It certifies 0.00 spent, 0.00 encumbered and 0.00 on hand, and it answers No when asked whether the Borough funded any program in the year.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certified spent, FY2026 | 0.00 |
| Check 93, Redmont Sign, 07/17/2025 | 25,999.40 |
Paid 25,999.40 for a sign, then certified 0.00 spent.
The settlement lines held 15,305.65 unexpended on 05/28/2026, 3,713.33 on the -024 line and 11,592.32 on the -025 line. The -024 line shows no new activity through 08/31/2026. The report's own figures leave 30,977.23, which is 56,976.63 received less the 25,999.40 certified spent across all four reports. Certified 0.00 on hand with 15,305.65 still in reserve.
A capital purchase
The Borough's general capital fund carries exterior signs. On 06/14/2024, seventeen days before the opioid sign order, it encumbered 21,510.00 for a library sign with display and its installation, on the capital ordinance for the new library. Check 4241 paid it on 09/20/2024. Ordinance 26-18 carries 60,000.00 for pedestrian safety signs, unspent at 09/04/2026.
The FY2024 report calls the opioid sign a 1-time capital purchase the Borough was in need of. That the settlement money paid for a sign the capital budget would otherwise have carried is this project's inference from these records. The Borough's operating lines for signage were not produced. Called the sign a capital purchase the Borough needed.
What should happen
The whole of the Borough's settlement spending is one general purpose sign, certified under a label it does not meet and reported in the wrong year. The Borough can restore the 25,999.40 to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services should examine the FY2024 and FY2026 reports and the records behind them.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.