Branchburg Township
Branchburg Township paid 49,228.35 of opioid settlement money for a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee for its police and the Jeep's lighting, and certified the purchase to the State as workforce development under the First Responders strategy.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Branchburg Township paid 39,667.45 for a 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee for its police on 10/13/2025 and 9,560.90 for the Jeep's lighting on 04/27/2026. Both payments came from its opioid settlement accounts.
- The FY2026 report names the Jeep. It files the purchase under Workforce Development and Capacity Building and the First Responders strategy, gives the purpose as police patrol, and gives the outcome as unknown.
- The Jeep and its lighting are 49.7 percent of the 99,020.65 the Township has spent from the fund.
- The dollar totals in the FY2025 and FY2026 reports tie to the books to the cent.
Recovery outreach and an opioid use disorder course for officers got 46,100.00. The Jeep got more.
Summary
Branchburg Township, Somerset County, reported receiving 116,891.48 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026. The national settlements list approved abatement uses, among them treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The list is not exhaustive. Other documented, evidence-based programs that address the epidemic also qualify. Settlement money must add to what a town already spends, not replace it.
The produced records show three settlement accounts. Grant account G-02-40-214-019 is titled Opioid Funds Appropriated. Current fund lines 4-01-46-888-020 and 5-01-46-888-020, for budget years 2024 and 2025, are titled Opioid settlement. Through 07/08/2026 the three accounts paid 99,020.65 net.
| Classification | Amount |
|---|---|
| Conforming | 46,100.00 |
| Not conforming | 49,228.35 |
| Unverified | 3,692.30 |
| Spent through 07/08/2026 | 99,020.65 |
This project classifies the recovery outreach contract and the police opioid use disorder course as conforming. The Jeep and its lighting are not conforming. The police overtime charges are unverified, because the records produced do not show enough to decide. Read the Township's findings.
What the Township told the State
| Report | Received in year | Received since 2022 | Expended in year | Encumbered | Unspent on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 23,589.52 | 23,589.52 | 0.00 | not asked | not asked |
| FY2024 | 47,057.18 | 70,646.70 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 70,646.70 |
| FY2025 | 27,562.56 | 98,209.26 | 12,600.00 | 59,153.90 | 85,609.26 |
| FY2026 | 18,682.22 | 116,891.48 | 86,295.80 | 0.00 | 14,985.20 |
The FY2023 and FY2024 reports certify no spending. The FY2024 report says no program was funded and gives the Township's goal as looking for a partner organization. No produced record shows a payment before 12/27/2024. No audit trail was produced for a current fund opioid line before budget year 2025, so those two years rest on partial books.
The FY2025 report certifies 12,600.00 spent on one program, Operational Readiness for Police Officers, paid to ZSchool LLC. ZSchool check 51240 for 12,600.00 on 12/27/2024 is that figure. The report prints the program's launch date as 12/11/2025, after the period it covers. The 59,153.90 it certifies as appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent is the opening appropriation of the 2025 opioid line. The question asks for money appropriated or encumbered, so the figure answers it as worded.
The FY2026 report certifies 86,295.80 spent across four programs. Eight payments make that figure to the cent, and each program figure equals its own payments. Its unspent figure, 14,985.20, is the grant account balance printed on 08/28/2026, after a 125.75 payroll charge of 07/08/2026. The question asks what the Township currently has on hand. FY2025 and FY2026 spending totals tie the ledger.
The Jeep
The FY2026 report lists a new program, printed as "Vehichle Purchase and outfitting," at 49,228.35. It names the recipient as "2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee." It gives the primary problem as "Police Vehicle" and the purpose as "For police to patrol the municipality."
| Date | Record | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 10/13/2025 | Check 52660, Hertrich Fleet Services, purchase order 25-01477, 2025 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE - PD | 39,667.45 |
| 04/27/2026 | Check 2885, Elite Vehicle Solutions, purchase order 25-01645, 2025 JEEP LIGHTING W/INSTALL | 9,560.90 |
| Certified as Vehichle Purchase and outfitting | 49,228.35 |
The two payments make the certified figure to the cent. The report gives the program's funding and launch date as 10/13/2025, the date of the Jeep check. It reports 0 individuals served.
The report files the Jeep under the primary category Workforce Development and Capacity Building and the Schedule B strategy First Responders. It describes the intended impact as "To have our police be more visible in the town." Its indicator is increased community awareness. Asked how often it measures that, it answers "The police use the vehicle when attending functions." It gives the outcome it aims to achieve as "unknown." Asked how the program addresses opioid use disorder through evidence-based practice, it answers "visible police force."
Exhibit E's First Responders category adds two uses to the first-responder items in sections C, D and H: education about fentanyl and other drugs, and wellness services for first responders. Unlike the other categories, it does not say its list is open. Its Training category funds staff training and networking. No listed use in C, D, H or I covers a patrol vehicle, and no overdose program using this vehicle is documented. Certified a police Jeep as workforce development.
How the Jeep moved between accounts
The Township paid for the Jeep from current fund line 5-01-46-888-020, titled Opioid settlement. The line carried a 2025 appropriation of 59,153.90, the figure the FY2025 report certified as opioid funds appropriated but not yet spent. The Jeep order was the first and only order on the line, first encumbered on 09/09/2025.
On 12/31/2025 three journal entries moved the money.
| Reference | Account | Entry | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5991 | 5-01-46-888-020 | recharged to grant ck 52660 | 39,667.45 credit |
| 5990 | G-02-40-214-019 | recharge of expenditure to grant | 39,667.45 charge |
| 5992 | 5-01-46-888-020 | move to grant fund | 59,153.90 out |
| 5989 | G-02-40-214-019 | 2025 budget appropriaton, as printed | 59,153.90 in |
After those entries the current fund line held 0.00. The grant account carried the Jeep and the 2025 appropriation. Both accounts carry opioid settlement titles, so the entries moved the Jeep from one settlement account to another. The produced records do not show the Jeep charged to a police budget line at any point. They do not show whether the police budget would otherwise have bought it.
Where the rest went
Community In Crisis Inc was paid 20,000.00 by check 2884 on 04/27/2026, for opioid crisis outreach and resources under its 2026 to 2027 agreement. The FY2026 report describes the Community Recovery Champion Program, a person with lived experience in recovery who connects residents with recovery support services. Connecting people to care and supporting people in recovery are among the uses Exhibit E lists.
ZSchool LLC was paid twice for Operational Readiness for Police Officers, 12,600.00 on 12/27/2024 and 13,500.00 on 05/11/2026. The FY2025 report describes it as a training program to help officers address opioid use disorder and co-occurring conditions. Training police on the needs of people with opioid use disorder is among the uses Exhibit E lists.
Five bi-weekly payroll charges from 05/12/2026 to 07/08/2026 total 3,693.20. A 0.90 credit of 05/27/2026 brings them to 3,692.30. The FY2026 report certifies the first four, 3,567.45, as Police Overtime, for officers who attended an opioid use disorder class on their own time. The Police Department overtime sheets for 05/01/2026 to 05/21/2026 mark entries as Opioid Grant and opioid class. Two of the three sheets carry redactions, including the total hours. No sheet was produced for the June and July charges. This project classifies the overtime as unverified.
What should happen
The Township has spent 49,228.35 of settlement money on a police patrol vehicle and its lighting, certified under labels that do not describe it. No overdose program using the vehicle is documented. The Township can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services should examine the FY2026 report, who prepared it, and what records support its program labels.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.