Opioid Abatement Authority opens FY25 annual reports portal; deadline extended to Oct. 1

The Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA) on Oct. 1 told city and county grant recipients that fiscal-year-2025 annual reports must be completed and submitted through the OAA grants portal by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and walked participants through the portal steps, required documentation and signature process.

"The report should be completed and submitted to the OAA by 11:59PM on Wednesday, October 1," said Sharika Bridges, senior grants compliance analyst for the OAA, during a webinar demonstration of the portal. Charlie Linticum, the OAA director of operations, reminded attendees that annual reporting is a terms-and-conditions requirement for every award.

The reports are programmatic and financial. Each FY25 project awarded to a city or county requires a separate annual report. For cooperative partnership awards, only the grants fiscal agent must complete and submit a single annual report covering the partnership, but partners that expended funds must provide their general ledgers to the fiscal agent for upload, Bridges said.

Why it matters: The OAA reviews submitted reports and assigns one of three compliance assessments — compliant, substantially compliant or noncompliant — under Section 4 of the OAA terms and conditions. Linticum said noncompliance can include failing to file a report on time and other violations of award requirements.

What’s required and how to submit: Webinar presenters demonstrated these required pieces of the FY25 annual report in the portal:

- Narrative update (status, successes, challenges and sustainability plans) for each project. - For individual distribution awards only: a direct distribution information page (cities/counties may update previously submitted direct distribution data). - Budget reporting across three pages: personnel expenditures; operating and capital expenditures; and a budget overview that captures revenue sources, including OAA and non‑OAA funds. - Performance measures: report only FY25 actuals generated by the OAA‑funded portion of any expansion or enhancement. - Project objectives and revised or actual timeline entries. - Reference information: required upload of a detailed expenditures report or general ledger for the fiscal agent; partner localities that expended OAA funds must attach their general ledgers. The portal accepts up to 10 files per upload or a web link. - Signature page: declarative checkbox affirming accuracy and compliance, and e‑signature via Adobe Acrobat eSign by the city or county executive or an authorized designee prior to final submission.

Bridges emphasized that the general ledger attachment is required and that OAA staff will request missing documents during review. She also noted that reports for projects awarded for FY25 but not renewed for FY26 still require FY25 annual reports and should show a carry-forward amount of $0 if not renewed. For projects renewed for FY26, carry‑forward amounts should match the FY26 award or the carry‑forward true‑up submission.

Portal workflow and troubleshooting: Presenters demonstrated how to start an annual report from the grants management tab, select the FY25 project, and follow the left-side navigation through each tab. Users can navigate backward to earlier tabs but must save each page to move forward. The system allows saving draft entries; the presenters advised using placeholder zeros in budget tabs to advance and then returning to update with actual numbers before submitting.

"Please go ahead and try to at least begin your annual report, so that we can get any issues like that resolved," said Matthew Terrell, senior business analyst, who led the live demonstration. Terrell and other panelists instructed attendees to use the communications feature in the portal and tag the relevant OAA staff member (for example, Terrell) to report portal errors so the OAA can log vendor tickets and preserve documentation.

Signature and delegation clarifications: The OAA said the city or county executive or their designee may sign the annual report through Adobe eSign. If someone other than the executive or their deputy signs, the OAA may ask for documentation authorizing that designee (for example, a delegated authority letter or procurement policy). Because the annual report includes both programmatic and financial attestations, the OAA prefers a top-level signatory who can accept responsibility for compliance.

Resources and next steps: The OAA will post the webinar recording, slide deck and a guidance document on the Abatement Academy webpage and will notify localities through the OAA newsletter and portal notifications. Staff encouraged awardees to start early to identify and resolve any portal issues before the deadline.

For portal problems, the OAA asked users to open a communication in the grants portal, tag Matthew Terrell (employee contact) and include the project information. The communications thread attaches to the user account and creates a documented support path with the OAA and its vendor.