County · County government · 16 municipalities · 17 jurisdictions in total

Essex County

17 jurisdictions in Essex County receive opioid settlement funds. They are the county government and 16 municipalities. Complete ledgers have been produced for 1 of them.

Complete ledgers · 1 of 17Records refused · 0Graded F · 0
Grade board · 17 jurisdictionsEssex County · provisionalGrade C · provisional
Belleville Township · provisionalGrade A · provisionalBloomfield Township · provisionalGrade C · provisionalCedar Grove Township · provisionalGrade A · provisionalEast OrangeRecords pendingIrvington TownshipRecords pendingLivingston Township · provisionalGrade D · provisionalMaplewood TownshipRecords pendingMillburn Township · provisionalGrade D · provisionalMontclair Township · provisionalGrade D · provisionalNewarkRecords pendingNutley TownshipRecords pendingOrange TownshipRecords pendingSouth Orange TownshipRecords pendingVerona Township · provisionalGrade B · provisionalWest Caldwell TownshipGrade BWest Orange Township · provisionalGrade A · provisional
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • F
  • Not yet graded
  • Records refused
County wide · county government and 16 municipalities · 1 of 17 with complete ledgers
Received$14,708,696.80Cumulative, as each jurisdiction last certified to the State
Spent, verified$1,264,506.29Summed from the ledger rows published here
Non-conforming$143,140.87Classified against the Exhibit E gates
Misreported to the StateCertified against books conflict$109,207.89Certified figures the books do not support
Every figure is summed over the county government and 16 municipalities, from the published rows, in whole cents. A jurisdiction with no ledger adds nothing to spent.

The county government

Essex County is a recipient in its own right. Its reports and its books are compared here the same way a municipality's are.

Received$3,226,215.47Cumulative, as last certified to the State
Paid$224,286.00Summed from the county ledger
Misreported to the StateCertified against books conflict$20,389.63Certified figures the county books do not support
CGrade C · provisional
Grade C · provisional · rubric v5Grade C · provisional
Reporting integrity · weight 50
96.43 / 100
Spending conformity · weight 40
50 / 100
Transparency · weight 10
100 / 100
Weighted score
78.21 · C
How grades work

16 municipalities

Graded jurisdictions first, sorted by dollars misreported to the State. The full column set lives in the statewide rankings.

Graded municipalities in Essex County, sorted by dollars misreported to the State, largest first
GradeMunicipality and patternsSpent, verifiedMisreported to State
DGrade DMontclair Township622,900.14Certified against books conflict83,736.71
DGrade DMillburn Township103,614.15Certified against books conflict4,781.70
CGrade CBloomfield Township
Funding-source substitution
146,279.96Certified against books conflict299.85
AGrade ABelleville TownshipNo figure publishedNo figure published
AGrade ACedar Grove Township23,648.14No figure published
DGrade DLivingston Township
Fake encumbrances
98,412.22No figure published
BGrade BVerona Township24,115.68No figure published
BGrade BWest Caldwell Township21,250.00No figure published
AGrade AWest Orange TownshipNo figure publishedNo figure published
Not yet graded · 7

East Orange Records pending · Irvington Township Records pending · Maplewood Township Records pending · Newark Records pending · Nutley Township Records pending · Orange Township Records pending · South Orange Township Records pending

What recurs here

Each family below groups the jurisdictions in this county carrying a finding of the same shape. Counts are sized by how far the family reaches.

1

Funding-source substitution

Work previously paid from another fund moved onto the opioid account.

CGrade CFindings
1

Fake encumbrances

An encumbrance certified to the State with no open commitment in the books.

DGrade DFindings
Findings in Essex County

The FY2024 and FY2025 reports file the Essex Health and Wellness Recovery contract under the primary category Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention (FY2024 p5, FY2025 p4). The FY2024 report certifies 16,840.80 spent on it. The FY2025 report certifies 57,688.23 on the 2024 contract and 17,965.26 on the 2025 contract. The FY2026 report certifies 87,628.00 more on the 2025 contract (p13). Each figure equals the Township's payments on the contractor's monthly invoices, to the cent. Those invoices bill 35,906.71 for items no listed use covers. T-shirts come to 28,507.40. Staff T-shirts, 120.00, on the June 2024 invoice paid by check 20795 on 07/17/2024. T-shirts for Montclair High School, 825.00, and an ad journal sponsorship, 950.00, on the October 2024 invoice, check 21916. Galaxy Printing T-shirts, 4,377.25, 1,087.50 and 217.65, on the February 2025 invoice, check 22837. A Foot Locker gift card for a high school student, 500.00, and T-shirts, 2,510.00, on the March 2025 invoice, check 23282. A second Foot Locker gift certificate, 100.00, on the May 2025 invoice, check 23880. Banners and T-shirts for fall athlete outreach, 2,355.00, and balloons, 29.80, on the August 2025 invoice, check 24389. Pompoms, wristbands, hair ribbons and sweat towels from Amazon, 724.64, on the September 2025 invoice, and T-shirts and banners, 2,235.00, and giveaway T-shirts for high school fall sports, 680.00, on the October 2025 invoice, both on check 25025. T-shirts, 10,550.00 and 650.00, on the February 2026 invoice, check 25844. T-shirts, 2,900.00, and Discountmugs.com tokens for outreach, 5,094.87, on the March 2026 invoice, check 26153. By report, 120.00 is in the FY2024 figure, 10,467.40 in the FY2025 figures and 25,319.31 in the FY2026 update. These are not among the uses Exhibit E lists, and no evidence-based program using them is documented.

7 documents · 10/04/2026

The FY2026 report certifies 141,459.45 received since the distribution began in 2022 (p1, question 3). On page 3, under question 14a, the same report adds "Question 3 CORRECTION" and gives the total received since 2022 as 51,935.33. The two figures differ by 89,524.12. That is the total received since 2022 that the FY2024 report certified (p1, question 3). The Township has certified 0.00 spent in every report from FY2023 to FY2026. The FY2025 report certifies 141,168.17 received since 2022 and 141,168.17 unspent on hand (p1, questions 3 and 9). The FY2026 report certifies 291.28 received, 0.00 spent and 51,935.33 on hand (pp1 to 2, questions 1, 6 and 9). On the reports' own figures nothing left the fund, yet 89,524.12 of certified receipts is neither spent nor on hand. The Township's opioid grant receivable account, 01-1180, printed 06/08/2026, shows six collection credits from 09/13/2022 to 11/13/2025 totaling 76,528.75. That is neither of the report's two totals. One report cannot certify both totals as the money received.

4 documents · 10/04/2026

The FY2026 report certifies National Night Out August 2025 at 3,338.64 funded and spent, primary category Primary Prevention, Education, and Training, with Prevent Misuse of Opioids among its Schedule B strategies (pp10 to 12). It says "fun activities and giveaways attract community members" (p10). On 08/18/2025 check 9813 paid Any Excuse for A Party 1,500.00 for Nat'l Night Out Event, order 25-01243, charged 56.53 and 1,443.47 to two settlement accounts. The same day check 9901 paid The Mad Hatters 945.00 for National Night Out 2025, order 25-01345, invoice 8525VNO. The Township's vendor history shows the police Public Safety Materials line paying The Mad Hatters for a balloon artist and a face painter in 2023, and Civic Affairs paying it for balloon and face painting at the Fair in the Square. It shows Any Excuse for A Party supplying kids activities, Fall-O-Ween inflatables and Fair in the Square activities. The two payments total 2,445.00. No listed use covers party activities, balloon art or face painting, and no record produced shows prevention education delivered with them.

4 documents · 10/04/2026

The FY2026 report certifies 29,040.75 received in the year, 0.00 of interest and 171,105.68 received since the distribution began in 2022 (p1). It certifies 0.00 spent (p1), 0.00 appropriated or encumbered and not yet spent, 0.00 of administrative expenses and 195,452.61 of unspent and uncommitted money the Township currently has on hand (p2). It answers No to funding any program (p3). The FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 reports each certify 0.00 expended. On the report's own figures the Township has received 171,105.68 and spent nothing, so it cannot hold more than 171,105.68. The certified on hand figure is 24,346.93 more than every dollar the report says the Township has received. The Township's Valley National Bank listing for its settlement account, printed 06/10/2026, shows 27 credits from 11/03/2022 to 04/30/2026, 169,419.35 in all, and 0 debits. The certified on hand figure is 26,033.26 more than every deposit the account shows.

5 documents · 10/04/2026

The FY2026 report lists a new program named Equipment Purchases at 55,707.30 funded and spent, recipient Millburn Fire Department (pp4 to 6). It describes the purpose as "Equip First Responders for opioid abatement." It gives the primary category as Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention and the Schedule B strategy as First Responders. It reports 50 individuals served, and its one key performance indicator is Reduction in opioid-related incidents: 0. Asked how the program addresses opioid use disorder through evidence-based practice, it answers "Equipment for first responders." The books show one purchase. Stryker purchase order 26-00428, ordered 02/10/2026 and shipped to the Fire Department, buys two LUCAS chest compression systems at 20,271.10 each, desktop chargers at 2,511.00, power supplies at 795.00, batteries at 1,494.00, suction cups at 1,069.50 and a ProCare service contract at 9,295.60. The order line says the contract expires in 2029. Stryker's invoice dates it 02/23/2026 to 02/22/2031. Check 9522, described as LUCAS CPR System and Accessories, paid 55,707.30 on 04/07/2026, the certified figure to the cent. The report's program name does not say what was bought. Exhibit E's First Responders category adds two uses to the first-responder items in sections C, D and H: education about fentanyl and other drugs, and wellness services for first responders. No overdose program using the devices is documented, and no listed use in C, D, H or I covers mechanical CPR devices.

4 documents · 10/03/2026

The FY2026 report lists the part time Crisis Intervention Social Worker program twice. As a 2026 program, "PT Crisis Intervention Social Worker program", it certifies 67,514.31 funded and spent, used "to pay for CISW salary" (p11 to p12). As an update to the FY2023 program "Part Time Crisis Intervention Social Worker", it certifies 66,158.08 expended, under the label 07/01/2022 to 06/30/2023, last updated 07/31/2026 (p15). The certified 72,909.11 spent in FY2026 counts only the first figure. Read as FY2023 spending, the 66,158.08 contradicts the FY2023 report, which certifies 0.00 expended and 19,494.98 received as of 06/30/2023 (p1). It is 46,663.10 more than the Township had received by then. Read as FY2026 spending, it lifts the year to 139,067.19 and spending since 2022 to 144,367.19, which is 27,964.99 more than the 116,402.20 the report says the Township has ever received (p1). The two figures for the same salary differ by 1,356.23. No ledger has been produced.

2 documents · 10/03/2026

Documents
dhs report4 filesOpen
Municipal records16 municipalitiesOpen
Correction from Essex County jurisdictions

No correction received from this jurisdiction. If a figure on this page is wrong, send the record that shows it. The response is published here word for word.

Correct the record
Frequently asked questions

Why does Essex County appear twice, as a county and as its municipalities?

The county government and each municipality receive their own allocations and file their own reports. The county's grade covers its own books. The municipalities are graded separately and rolled up on this page.The rubric

Did the county pass any of its money down to the towns?

Where a county made subawards to municipalities, the payment appears in the county ledger as a transfer out and on the receiving town's page as money received. Both sides are shown from the documents.How we trace a transfer

Which Essex County jurisdictions have not produced their records?

None has refused. Jurisdictions marked pending have a request inside the statutory window, and no letter grade is issued until the ledger is complete.Every town