Town of Clinton
The Town of Clinton spent all 10,368.00 it has paid from its settlement account on lawyer fees, stickers, T-shirts and a police vendor, certified it as abatement and administration, and misstated its committed and unspent money for three years.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- The Town of Clinton has spent 10,368.00 of its opioid settlement money. Litigation counsel got 1,025.00. Stickers and T-shirts got 2,199.00. A policing services vendor got 7,144.00.
- No treatment, recovery, prevention or harm reduction program appears anywhere in the account.
- For FY2026 the Town certified 9,343.00 spent. On the same report it told the State it funded no program.
- That 9,343.00 bought stickers, T-shirts and a police vendor's project. No listed use covers them.
- The FY2025 report filed 1,025.00 of lawyer fees as administration of the abatement money.
- The FY2024 report certified 13,008.30 committed. No order for it exists on the books.
- It reported 29,184.08 on hand in FY2026 and 11,983.30 in FY2025. Its own figures give 41,104.09 and 40,731.93.
Most of the money has not been spent. Every dollar spent went to something no listed use covers.
Summary
The Town of Clinton, Hunterdon County, reports receiving 51,472.09 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 Town keeps the money in one account, G-02-41-746-2300, Opiod Settlement Fund. Its audit trails run from 01/01/2022 to 09/09/2026. The account was appropriated 39,552.08 and has paid 10,368.00 to three vendors. It carries no open order. The Town's vendor report for every fund from 01/01/2018 to 09/09/2026 charges this account on those three vendors and no others. Read the Town's findings.
| Date | Payee | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05/14/2025 | Tate Law Group, LLC | Opiate litigation, three invoices | 1,025.00 |
| 08/13/2025 | A local vendor | Custom stickers and T-shirts | 2,199.00 |
| 06/10/2026 | Online Policing Solutions, Inc. | STRATEGIC PROJECT IMPLEMENTATI | 7,144.00 |
| Total | 10,368.00 |
This project classifies all 10,368.00 of the spending as non-conforming. None of it is classified as conforming.
What the Town told the State
The FY2023 report covers the period through 06/30/2023. It certifies 11,658.74 received and 0.00 expended. It lists two programs. Officer Training was to give police officers training on new trends in the opioid world, at 3,000.00. Equipment was to buy equipment to help officers safely identify unknown drugs, at 26,000.00. Neither has a funding date. No payment for either appears on the account in the years since.
The FY2024 report certifies 29,542.61 received since 2022 and 0.00 expended. It certifies 13,008.30 appropriated or encumbered. It reports the whole 29,542.61 as unspent. It says the Town was waiting for the County to develop programs and would likely join them. Committed and uncommitted together come to 42,550.91, more than the Town had received. The account prints no purchase order before 05/01/2025 and Encumber YTD 0.00. Certified 13,008.30 committed with no order on the books.
The FY2025 report certifies 1,025.00 expended, all of it administrative. It names the payee as the Tate Law Group, for litigation. Three lines of purchase order 25-00547, paid by check 16898 on 05/14/2025, make the figure to the cent. The report says the Town had made no decision on how to spend the money.
The FY2026 report certifies 9,343.00 spent. The two payments in the year make that figure to the cent.
FY2026
The State published the Town's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026.
The report gives the year's goal as community outreach. It names the Police Chief and the CFO as the officials who decided the spending. At question 17 it says the Town funded no program in the year. It adds no new program. Its only program pages reprint Equipment and Officer Training from FY2023, each at 0.00. The Equipment page now lists Clinton Night Out as its key indicator.
The account paid two vendors in the year.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Check 17095, custom stickers and T-shirts, 08/13/2025 | 2,199.00 |
| Check 17816, Online Policing Solutions, Inc., 06/10/2026 | 7,144.00 |
| Paid in the period | 9,343.00 |
| Certified spent, FY2026 | 9,343.00 |
The figure ties. The report does not say what the money bought. Certified 9,343.00 spent and said it funded no program.
The Online Policing Solutions order reads STRATEGIC PROJECT IMPLEMENTATI. It is the first and only payment the Town has made to the vendor. The order states no substance use purpose. East Greenwich Township in Gloucester County paid the same vendor from its settlement account for a police community engagement service.
The stickers and T-shirts came from a vendor the Town also pays for police uniforms and computer supplies from its police budget lines. No record shows opioid content on them. The FY2025 report said the Town planned a community night out. The FY2026 Equipment page names Clinton Night Out as its key indicator. On 08/12/2026 the Town paid the same vendor 2,305.00 for National Night Out T-shirts and charged them to a developers escrow reserve.
Stickers, T-shirts and a police vendor's project are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Certified T-shirts and a police vendor payment as abatement.
Money on hand
The FY2026 report certifies 29,184.08 unspent and uncommitted on hand, and nothing appropriated or encumbered. It certifies 51,472.09 received since 2022. The account has paid 10,368.00 in all.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certified received since 2022 | 51,472.09 |
| Paid from the account | 10,368.00 |
| Received less spent | 41,104.09 |
| Certified on hand | 29,184.08 |
| Difference | 11,920.01 |
The 29,184.08 is the account's printed balance, the 39,552.08 appropriation less the 10,368.00 paid. The 11,920.01 is certified receipts the Town never appropriated to the account. Reported 29,184.08 on hand, its own figures give 41,104.09.
The FY2025 report has the same gap, larger. It certifies 41,756.93 received and 1,025.00 spent, which leaves 40,731.93. It reports 11,983.30 on hand. That is the 13,008.30 the FY2024 report certified as appropriated or encumbered, less the 1,025.00 spent. No order of either amount appears on the account or in the vendor report. Reported 11,983.30 on hand when its figures gave 40,731.93.
The counsel fees
The FY2025 report certifies the Tate Law Group fees as administrative expenses of the abatement money. The vendor report shows no other payment to the firm from any fund since 01/01/2018. MOA Section E(6) routes payments to counsel to the Supplemental Contingent Fee Fund. Counsel fees are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Certified 1,025.00 in lawyer fees as administrative costs.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.