Bergen County Returns $57K in Pandemic Relief to Federal Government After Audit Flags Missing Records
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, Even years after the height of the pandemic, federal oversight committees are still tracking down every dollar spent during the health emergency.
Case in point: Bergen County, New Jersey, has officially returned $57,000 in federal COVID-19 relief funding to Washington. The repayment comes after a sharp desk review by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that local officials could not properly document a series of payroll bonuses distributed during the crisis.
According to a final determination letter signed by Acting Assistant Inspector General for Audit Pauletta Battle, the clawback completely closes out the questioned costs tied to the county’s Coronavirus Relief Fund spending under the CARES Act.
The Paperwork Problem: Unapproved Lump-Sum Payments
The federal investigation focused heavily on how Bergen County calculated hazard pay and compensation for its workforce. During the peak of the crisis, the county distributed lump-sum payments to employees tasked with critical, front-line COVID-19 response duties.
However, when independent public auditors reviewed the books under a contract overseen by the Treasury Inspector General, they found a critical flaw: Bergen County failed to maintain standard administrative records showing exactly how individual payment amounts were calculated for each worker.
Because the state and local relief programs enforced strict recordkeeping obligations, the total lack of localized math rendered the $57,000 in employee compensation entirely “unsupported” under federal guidelines. The financial discrepancy originally surfaced in a September 2024 Treasury OIG desk review (Report No. OIG-CA-24-028) under the “aggregate reporting less than $50,000” portal classification.
No Fraud, Just Missing Receipts
It is important to note that the Office of Inspector General did not accuse Bergen County officials of fraud, corruption, or intentional misuse of funds. Instead, the penalty centers entirely on basic compliance and documentation standards.
During the frantic rush of 2020, local governments nationwide rapidly deployed hazard compensation, overtime funding, and operational support. Now, years later, those emergency decisions are hitting a wall of federal oversight designed to ensure compliance with three strict CARES Act pillars.
đ The Three Strict Rules of CARES Act Spending: To keep federal funds, local expenditures were required to be:
Necessary due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Not already accounted for in approved government budgets as of March 27, 2020.
Incurred within the federally approved coverage window.
Case Closed: Bergen County Settles the Debt
Federal auditors originally reached out to Hackensack administrators in April 2025 demanding the missing paperwork. Recognizing the documentation was unavailable, Bergen County Treasurer Melissa Howard coordinated the full $57,000 return directly to the Treasury Department the very next month.
The final determination letter, sent to the county treasury headquarters at One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack, notes that the financial swiftness satisfied all federal corrective action requirements. By returning the cash, Bergen County successfully avoided further escalation, administrative fines, or harsher federal enforcement actions, officially closing the case file for good.
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I would love the Village Of Ridgewood to get ordered, to hand off all documents from Covid. There was a lot of wasteful spending , if they ever get audited then you will see more shit at the fan.