Asbury Park
Asbury Park certified a 43,134.00 Ford Edge to the State as a Recovery Supports program, certified nursing, staff pay, software, shirts and event food as a Peer Staff program, and moved nursing its Mental Health Grant already paid onto the settlement accounts.
Published 10/03/2026 · Updated 10/04/2026
TLDR
- Asbury Park bought a 2024 Ford Edge with settlement money for 43,134.00. It told the State the year's spending was a Recovery Supports outreach program. The car was 76.1 percent of it.
- For FY2026 the City told the State it spent 121,726.87 on Peer Staff. The peer's pay was 57,178.32. The other 64,548.55 was nursing, other staff pay, software, phone charges, shirts, event food and a desk.
- For FY2025 it told the State it spent 46,237.12 on Peer Staff, under Treatment. The peer's pay was 14,985.00. The City's next report says it does not provide treatment.
- The FY2024 report lists 1,927.54 as encumbered and not yet spent. The City paid that 1,927.54 in June 2023 and had already reported it as spent.
- In 2025 journals moved 26,283.25 of charges off the City's Mental Health Grant onto the settlement accounts. The grant then ended the year with 25,437.80 unspent. In the six years before, it never ended with more than 3,528.02.
Summary
Asbury Park, Monmouth County, reported receiving 815,982.34 in opioid settlement money 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 City keeps the money in five accounts. Through 08/31/2026 they show 232,295.61 spent. This project classifies 73,810.78 as conforming, 121,299.96 as non-conforming and 37,184.87 as unverified. Read the City's findings.
Where the money went
| Use | Amount |
|---|---|
| Peer recovery specialist pay, moved by journal | 72,163.32 |
| Visiting Nurse Association contract nursing, paid or moved by journal | 63,573.30 |
| 2024 Ford Edge SEL AWD and title fee | 43,134.00 |
| ProsperityEHR case management software | 20,282.37 |
| Other Social Services staff pay, moved by journal | 7,577.63 |
| Client ID printer, ribbons, software and supplies | 8,807.43 |
| Client goods, shirts, bags, food, water and furniture | 11,346.16 |
| Peer training and education materials | 1,647.46 |
| T-Mobile charges on a City phone account | 1,997.73 |
| Medication distribution | 276.46 |
| One journal split across a salary line and the Mental Health Grant | 1,489.75 |
| Total through 08/31/2026 | 232,295.61 |
Most of the money did not pay a vendor. It arrived by journal entry. A journal charges the settlement account and credits another City account that had already paid the cost. The worksheets behind the journals are titled "Monthly Staff billing for Opioid Funds rembursement."
What the City told the State
| Year | Received in the year | Certified spent | Books in the same window |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 164,671.57 | 1,927.54 | 1,927.54 |
| FY2024 | 328,492.49 | 56,672.41 | 56,672.41 |
| FY2025 | 192,406.14 | 46,237.12 | 36,931.24 |
| FY2026 | 130,412.14 | 121,726.87 | 131,041.50 |
The FY2023 report certifies a client ID program. Two purchases paid on 06/14/2023 make the figure.
The FY2024 report certifies one program, named only City of Asbury Park, under Recovery Supports. Its figure is every payment in the year to the cent.
The FY2025 report certifies everything under a new program called Peer Staff, primary category Treatment, funded and launched 01/16/2025. Its figure is 9,305.88 above the year's books. Journals dated 07/17/2025 that charge March to June 2025 costs add 9,315.88, which is 10.00 more than the gap. No combination of the books gives the certified figure alone. Certified 9,305.88 more FY2025 spending than the books show.
The FY2026 report again certifies everything under Peer Staff, 121,726.87. The figure does not match any combination of the books to the cent. Leaving out the 07/17/2025 journals gives 121,725.62, which is 1.25 below it. The report's unspent figure, 561,440.88, equals the five account balances at 06/30/2026 before journal 11111. That journal is dated 06/24/2026 but numbered after a journal of 08/12/2026.
The Ford Edge
On 04/10/2024 the settlement account paid All American Ford in Point 43,064.00 for a 2024 Ford Edge SEL AWD by check 23298. On 05/22/2024 it paid the 70.00 title fee. The City's vendor history from 01/01/2018 to 08/31/2026 shows these as the only two payments the City ever made to the dealer.
The FY2024 report covers 07/01/2023 to 06/30/2024. It certifies 56,672.41 spent on one program. It describes the program as going into the community to engage people who use drugs and get them to treatment. It does not mention a vehicle. The car is 76.1 percent of the certified figure. No overdose program using it is documented. Certified a Ford Edge as recovery supports.
Peer Staff
The FY2025 report describes Peer Staff as a hired peer for outreach, education and patient engagement. It puts the whole year's spending in that program.
In FY2025 the books carry 14,985.00 of the peer's pay. The rest of the certified 46,237.12 is software fees, shirts, bags, stress relievers, nursing and other staff pay moved by journal, a peer class, pamphlets, ID supplies, phone charges and client goods. Twenty-five payments, 11,748.21, were made before the program was funded on 01/16/2025. The report says the 2024 program spent 0.00 that year. It files Peer Staff under Treatment. The City's FY2026 report says the City does not provide treatment. Certified 31,252.12 of other costs as Peer Staff treatment.
In FY2026 the books carry 57,178.32 of the peer's pay. The rest of the window is 57,067.05 of contract nursing, 4,016.25 of other staff pay, 7,367.00 of software fees, 775.92 of phone charges and 4,636.96 of goods, including a 1,229.62 desk. The report calls all of it Peer Staff. Certified 64,548.55 of other costs as Peer Staff.
Shirts, stress relievers and event food
The Peer Staff figures include purchases that no listed use covers.
| Year | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Imprinted apple stress relievers | 263.50 |
| FY2025 | Water and snacks | 193.78 |
| FY2025 | Tee shirts for clients | 2,454.20 |
| FY2025 | Staff shirts | 285.10 |
| FY2025 | Imprinted T-shirts with set up and freight | 617.89 |
| FY2026 | One hundred T-shirts for clients with freight | 867.62 |
| FY2026 | Fentanyl Awareness Day food | 500.00 |
| FY2026 | Fentanyl Awareness Day sundries | 244.55 |
| FY2026 | Water and food for clients | 98.64 |
The FY2025 items come to 3,814.47 and the FY2026 items to 1,710.81. Shirts, stress relievers and event food are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. No evidence-based program using them is documented. Certified shirts, stress relievers and snacks as treatment. Certified T-shirts and event food as a peer program.
The encumbrance that was already paid
The FY2023 report certifies 1,927.54 spent by 06/30/2023. The account paid 387.00 to Amazon and 1,540.54 to CDW on 06/14/2023. That is the figure.
The FY2024 report then lists the same 1,927.54 as appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent at 06/30/2024. The money had left the account a year earlier. Certified 1,927.54 paid in 2023 as still encumbered in 2024.
The Mental Health Grant
The City has paid the Visiting Nurse Association for contract nursing every month since January 2018. The vendor history shows 677,571.75 paid from 04/26/2018 to 08/31/2026. Almost all of it came from the Mental Health Grant and the Social Services contract line.
| Grant year | Left at year end |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 215.30 |
| 2020 | 0.00 |
| 2021 | 2,639.73 |
| 2022 | 1,016.51 |
| 2023 | 3,528.02 |
| 2024 | 259.63 |
| 2025 | 25,437.80 |
In 2025 four journals moved 26,283.25 of charges off the grant and onto the settlement accounts. The grant was appropriated at 127,064.00 and ended the year with 25,437.80 left. Without the moved charges it would have run 845.45 over. The settlement money paid a cost the grant already carried. Settlement money paid nursing the health grant had covered.
Staff pay for positions on the Social Services Base Salary line since 2019 moved over the same way, 7,577.63. The client ID printer and supplies are items the City also buys on police lines.
The phone charges are different. The City paid account 990733363 at 295.96 a month on its Telephone line through 12/2023. From 01/2024 the bill rose, and the added amount, about 64.00 a month, went to the settlement account. The 295.96 stayed on the Telephone line.
Section D(7) of the agreement between the State and its towns requires the money to supplement local spending and not supplant it.
2025 nursing
Four journals charge 2025 nursing to the settlement accounts. They total 28,475.00.
| Journal | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 10181 | 04/25/2025 | 2,783.75 |
| 10367 | 07/17/2025 | 7,650.00 |
| 10610 | 12/08/2025 | 15,257.50 |
| 10641 | 12/31/2025 | 2,783.75 |
| Total | 28,475.00 |
The City's year end nurse hour worksheet puts 2025 opioid nursing at 245 hours at 85.00, 20,825.00. The October worksheet behind journal 10610 subtracts journal 10181 before posting. Neither worksheet subtracts journal 10367, which had already charged March, April and May. The accounts carry 7,650.00 more than the worksheet. No entry in the record reverses it. Charged 7,650.00 more 2025 nursing than its own worksheet.
The peer
The City hired a peer recovery specialist in 2025. Journals have moved every dollar of that pay onto the settlement accounts, 72,163.32 through 06/30/2026. The position is new. Peer support is among the uses Exhibit E lists. This project classifies the peer's pay as conforming.
What should happen
The City can return 43,134.00 for the vehicle to the settlement fund. It can reverse journal 10367. It can return the nursing and staff pay it moved off accounts that already carried those costs, and the shirts and event food, and spend the money on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports and the journals behind them.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.