Barnegat Township
Barnegat Township has paid 94,532.03 from its opioid settlement accounts, and none of it went to a listed use or a documented abatement program. The largest charge is a 39,450.00 police message sign that the Township certified to the State as prevention.
Published 09/23/2026 · Updated 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Barnegat Township has paid 94,532.03 from its opioid settlement accounts. Treatment, recovery and naloxone got 0.00.
- The biggest purchase is a 39,450.00 police message sign. The Township told the State it was Primary Prevention, Education, and Training.
- It certified a 5,000.00 EMT course as Treatment. Asked how the course addresses opioid use disorder, the report answers "not known."
- It paid 13,495.93 of police overtime from the fund. One posting of 5,008.09 covered a fishing event with seven officers.
- It booked a BMX stunt show four times at 3,000.00 each, then spent 12,780.42 on gym equipment.
- Its FY2026 report certifies 693.12 of police gym gear as workforce development and leaves a 3,000.00 BMX show out of the year's spending.
Through FY2025 the reports tie to the books. What they call the spending does not.
Summary
Barnegat Township, Ocean County, reports 284,748.62 in opioid settlement money received through 06/30/2025, plus 7,574.40 of interest. The money may be spent only on the opioid abatement uses listed in the national settlements.
The Township keeps the money in three accounts, G-02-40-395-023, -024 and -025. From 05/03/2023 to 09/01/2026 those accounts paid 94,532.03, net of credits (ledger, update). None of it went to a listed use or a documented abatement program. The spending went to a police message sign, police overtime, stunt shows, event T-shirts, an EMT course, marijuana education kits, a driving simulator tour, impairment goggles and gym equipment.
The Township reported most of this to the Department of Human Services under prevention, treatment and harm reduction categories. Its three reports certify 63,917.20 spent through 06/30/2025. The books show the same total for the same period. One T-shirt order was reported a year before it was paid. The FY2026 report certifies 10,238.30 for a year in which the accounts paid 13,238.30.
What the Township bought
The figures come from the Township's Budget Account Status and Transaction Audit Trail for the three accounts, printed 06/01/2026 and 09/01/2026.
| Spending | Paid | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Ver-Mac message sign, Certified Speedometer Service | 39,450.00 | Message sign |
| Police overtime, net of a 206.13 journal | 13,495.93 | Overtime |
| Gym equipment, Advantage Sport and Fitness and Amazon | 12,780.42 | Gym |
| BMX stunt shows, Dialed Action Agency | 12,000.00 | Stunt shows |
| EMT Basic course, Jersey Shore Medical Center | 5,000.00 | EMT course |
| Event T-shirts, Artist-Tees.com, net of two 400.00 credits | 4,539.43 | T-shirts |
| Goggles, THC kit and course seats, Innocorp | 3,320.00 | THC kits |
| Arrive Alive simulator tour, Unite Corporation | 2,850.00 | None |
| Event T-shirts, Howard J. Post | 1,096.25 | Early certification |
| Total paid | 94,532.03 |
Of the total, 77,792.73 is non-conforming. Some of it the Township already paid from its police budget. Some of it the reports label as treatment or harm reduction. None of it is part of a documented evidence based program. The other 16,739.30 is the goggles and their shipping, the simulator tour and the gym build-out. No record ties any of it to opioids.
The message sign
Purchase order 24-02168 is dated 12/05/2024. Its description reads Sign Boards for Anti-Drug Msg. It bought a Ver-Mac PCMS-548-CP portable changeable message sign. Check 46548 paid 39,450.00 on 05/06/2025, split between two of the opioid accounts. It is the only purchase order the Township issued to this vendor from 2018 through 2026 (vendor history).
The FY2025 report certifies the sign to the Barnegat Township Police Department as a program named Message Sign (FY2025 report, page 4). Its category is Primary Prevention, Education, and Training. It describes a "message board to make all drivers aware of drug awareness and driving while under the influence of drugs." It lists positioning near schools as a performance indicator. The sign is 74 percent of all spending the report certifies for the year. No record shows what the sign has displayed or where it has stood, and no evidence based prevention program using it is documented. A police message sign is not among the uses Exhibit E lists.
Police overtime
Eleven gross payroll postings from 05/03/2023 to 11/13/2025 charged 13,702.06 to the opioid accounts. A journal of 06/19/2025 moved 206.13 back off, for a net 13,495.93. The Township's labor distribution summaries show no regular hours in any of these pays. Every dollar is overtime (payroll records).
The Police Department's overtime report, filtered to the reason Opioid Funds, lists 99.00 hours at time and a half. The hours went to DEA take back days, a Casting with a Cop fishing event and a Citizens Police Academy. The fishing event on 08/23/2025 took 49.00 hours across seven officers. That is the 5,008.09 posting of 09/04/2025.
The payroll charge sheets list the opioid line among the Township's police overtime grant lines, beside Drive Sober and Click It or Ticket. For three pays in 2026 a handwritten note on the same line reads Charge Ovg to PD OT. Those 1,884.26 never reached the opioid accounts.
The Police overtime appropriation never fell. It was 300,000.00 in 2019 and 425,000.00 in 2026. It ran over budget in five of those eight years (police salary accounts). The Township certified the overtime paid through 06/30/2025 to the State as National Take Back Day programs, in all three reports.
Stunt shows and T-shirts
The Township booked Dialed Action Agency, a BMX stunt show company, four times at 3,000.00 each. The checks are 44205 on 09/05/2023, 45489 on 08/06/2024, 47147 on 09/02/2025 and 48729 on 09/01/2026. All four were charged to the opioid accounts. The vendor history from 2018 through 2026 shows no other payment to this company from any fund (vendor history). The FY2024 report certifies the first show as National Night Out Performance (FY2024 report, page 4).
Artist-Tees.com sold the Township eight orders from 2018 through 2026. Every one is police apparel or awards. Six went on the Current Fund police lines. Two went on the opioid accounts, 4,539.43 for Casting with a Cop T-shirts. Each of those two was paid on the same check as a community policing order from the same vendor. Check 47232 paid both on 10/07/2025. Check 48676 paid both on 09/01/2026.
The EMT course and the THC kits
Check 46169 paid Jersey Shore Medical Center 5,000.00 on 02/04/2025 for an EMT Basic initial course. The FY2025 report certifies it to the Police Department as EMT Course, in the category Treatment (page 5). The report asks how the program will address opioid use disorder through evidence based or evidence informed practices. The answer is "not known." The Township paid its other courses from the same vendor from its police professional line.
Purchase order 24-01548 to Innocorp, paid on check 45834 on 11/07/2024, totals 3,320.00. It bought Fatal Vision goggles for 1,690.00, a THC starter kit for 1,170.00, THC online course seats for 249.00 and 99.00, and shipping for 112.00. The FY2025 report certifies all 3,320.00 as Fatal Vision Goggles, in the category Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention (page 3). Of that, 1,518.00 is marijuana education.
The gym
Purchase order 25-02145 to Advantage Sport and Fitness, dated 12/04/2025, is a gym build out of 18 lines. It includes a rowing machine, a treadmill, weight racks, plates, suspension trainers, freight and installation. Check 48484 paid 12,087.30 on 07/07/2026. Purchase order 26-00925 to Amazon paid 693.12 on 05/05/2026 for a gym mirror, a squat attachment, sliding disks, a medicine ball target and dip stands. A 464.15 order for more gym gear was voided on 06/16/2026. The FY2026 report describes the Amazon order as fitness equipment for police officers. The record does not show where the gym is.
How the reported figures match the books
| Report | Certified expended | Paid in the fiscal year, per the ledger |
|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 1,247.56 | 1,247.56 |
| FY2024 | 9,465.59 | 8,369.34 |
| FY2025 | 53,204.05 | 54,300.30 |
| Total | 63,917.20 | 63,917.20 |
The totals match. The years do not. The FY2024 report certifies Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs as a completed 1,096.25 program, funded and launched 06/01/2024 (page 7). That is purchase order 24-00704 to Howard J. Post, for Casting with a Cop T-shirts. Check 45528 paid it on 09/03/2024, in the FY2025 year. The FY2024 report counts it. The FY2025 report leaves it out. The difference in each year is 1,096.25.
The reports' unspent balances leave out the interest they certify. The FY2025 report certifies 217,831.42 unspent. That is 284,748.62 of principal less 63,917.20 spent and 3,000.00 encumbered. None of the 7,574.40 of interest the reports certify is in it (FY2023 report, finding).
FY2026
The State published the Township's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 10,238.30 spent and 15,087.30 encumbered. The three accounts paid 13,238.30 in the year.
The report lists one new program, the Officer Wellness Program, at 693.12. It files it under Workforce Development and Capacity Building, with the primary problem "Supports effective response to overdose incidents." The 693.12 is the Amazon order paid 05/05/2026 for a gym mirror, a squat attachment, sliding disks, a medicine ball target and dip stands. The report says the money buys fitness and wellness equipment for police officers. No listed use covers gym equipment, and no wellness service using it is documented. Certified police gym gear as workforce development.
Two updates make up the rest of the certified total. Hooked on Fishing, 7,670.55, is the Artist-Tees.com T-shirt order and two overtime pays, including the 5,008.09 for the 08/23/2025 fishing event. National Take Back Day, 1,874.63, is two more overtime pays.
The certified total leaves out check 47147, 3,000.00, paid to Dialed Action Agency on 09/02/2025 for the third BMX show. The FY2025 report counted that show as encumbered. No report counts it as spent. FY2026 spending leaves out a 3,000.00 BMX show.
The 15,087.30 encumbered is two orders open at 06/30/2026, the 12,087.30 gym build-out and the fourth BMX show at 3,000.00. No program in the report describes the gym build-out.
What should happen
The accounts have paid 77,792.73 for non-conforming items and 16,739.30 that no record ties to opioids. The Township can restore that money and spend it on a listed purpose. Police overtime and police equipment belong in the police budget, where the Township already carries them.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.