Opioid Abatement Authority integrates carry-forward reporting into FY26 annual report, sets Oct. 1 deadline and demos portal

Charlie Lenticum, director of operations for the Opioid Abatement Authority (OAA), opened an Abatement Academy webinar by saying the agency has updated its reporting system to combine the previous separate carry‑forward "true up" with the FY26 annual report, eliminating a standalone submission and changing the cadence for direct‑distribution reports.

The move means cities and counties participating in OAA awards — including those that have opted into the OAA gold‑standard program — will submit a single direct‑distribution report that reflects FY26 activity (07/01/2025 through 06/30/2026), with the report due in the portal on Oct. 1 at 11:59 p.m., the presenters said.

Bridges: why it matters

Sharika Bridges, senior manager of grants operations, said the FY26 annual reports are now available in the OAA grants portal and must be submitted through that portal; each FY26 awarded project requires its own annual report. For cooperative‑partnership awards, Bridges said, only the grants fiscal agent needs to submit the report for the partnership, and partner localities or subrecipients should provide the fiscal agent with project status, performance measures and expenditure details to include.

What to include and how the portal works

Bridges outlined the report structure: individual distribution reports contain 13 required sections (12 for cooperative partnership reports) including a narrative update, budget pages (report‑year and current/out‑year personnel, operating/capital and funding sources), performance measures, objectives timeline, a required general‑ledger upload and a signature page for e‑signature. She stressed that reported FY26 expenses should fall within 07/01/2025–06/30/2026 and that the portal will generate carry‑forward available amounts based on the data entered.

Bridges also warned that failure to provide the required general ledger — exported from a city or county financial system and reconcilable to the reported FY26 expenses — could negatively affect a project’s compliance status under the award terms and conditions.

Portal walkthrough and tips

Matt Terrell, senior business analyst, demonstrated the grants portal in a test environment. He showed how to start or resume an FY26 individual report, enter narrative text and final expenditures, edit direct‑distribution lines, report personnel and operating/capital costs, designate funding sources (including non‑OAA matching funds), request carry‑forward into FY27, reconcile totals until the portal difference reads zero, upload the general ledger and other supporting documents, and send the report for e‑signature via Adobe Acrobat Signature.

The presenters recommended starting the report early to allow time for portal issues or clarification requests and advised collaborating with finance or budget offices when completing the financial sections.

Next steps and resources

The OAA said it will post the webinar recording, slide deck and updated guidance documents (including updated direct‑distribution reporting guidance) within about a week and distribute a news update when materials are available. The agency also noted the city and county awards application cycle will open July 15 and that updated timelines and guidance will be posted on the OAA website.

The webinar concluded with a brief Q&A; presenters reiterated that the integrated annual report should populate direct‑distribution data across related reports and invited attendees to contact their OAA local government liaison via the portal communications tab for help.