Egg Harbor Township

Summary

Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, reports receiving 278,799.11 in opioid settlement money and interest 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 Township's settlement account is G-02-05-881-001-301, National Opioid Settlements. Its audit trails run from 01/01/2022 to 08/31/2026. The account paid nothing until 05/20/2026. By 08/31/2026 it had paid 18,913.01 to six vendors, and nothing was open.

This project classifies all 18,913.01 as non-conforming. It is a police cargo trailer, its fittings, two vehicle wraps, an inflatable mascot, an event tent, polos, banners, stickers and pencils. No listed use covers any of it, and no evidence-based program using any of it is documented. None of the spending is classified as conforming. Read the Township's findings.

What the Township received

The figures are the Township's own, from its four reports to the Department of Human Services.

What it spent

The trailer is a 2026 Pace American. Its purchase order ships it to the Egg Harbor Township Police Department. The Chief of Police signed for it, and the order is marked as fixed asset W312. The account then paid 1,505.52 to fit it out and 2,635.00 to wrap it. The F-150 wrap, 3,535.00, is for a 2018 vehicle the settlement account did not buy. Nothing in the produced records says which department holds it.

L.E.A.D. stands for Law Enforcement Against Drugs. The FY2026 report describes it as youth drug prevention delivered by the Township's police officers. The vendor history shows three earlier L.E.A.D. Inc purchases. A 1,500.00 registration and a 2,394.00 order described as 21st Century Drug and Violence were charged to the Police Department's training line. A 2,491.65 order described as Too Good for Drugs was charged to the Municipal Alliance youth awareness grant. The settlement account paid for the inflatable mascot.

The event tent has a history too. On order 25-03270, paid 11/12/2025, the police Community Service Division line bought three deluxe 10 foot event tents from the same vendor at 967.69 each. The settlement account bought the fourth, at 1,005.36.

What the Township told the State

The FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 reports certify 0.00 expended. The account paid nothing in those years, so the reports and the books agree on spending.

The balances are another matter. The FY2024 report certifies 220,687.43 unspent on hand, 75,871.38 more than the 144,816.05 it reports receiving since 2022, interest included. Nothing had been spent, so 144,816.05 was the most the Township could hold. FY2024 report put 220,687.43 on hand, above all it got. The FY2025 report certifies 226,338.32 on hand against 228,709.10 received, with nothing spent.

The FY2026 report covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 8,417.49 expended. The account paid exactly that in the year, the trailer, the tent and the JCM order. It lists one program, Law Enforcement Against Drugs (LEAD), run by the Police Department, funded on 06/17/2026 at 20,000.00. It files the program under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training, with the Schedule B strategy "Address the Needs of Criminal Justice-Involved Persons." It reports 4,000 people served and 4 education sessions. The program block does not mention a trailer or a vehicle.

The same report answers question 12, which asks what resources the Township used when deciding to spend the money, with "No funds were expended during this reporting period." The account paid 8,417.49 in the year. Said no funds were spent beside 8,417.49 certified spent.

What the records show

The LEAD block certifies 8,417.49 spent. The books make that figure to the cent with a cargo trailer and its tag, 5,530.00, an event tent, 1,005.36, and the JCM order of polos, a table cloth, banners, stickers and pencils, 1,882.13. The block never mentions a trailer. No listed use covers a cargo trailer, an event tent, polos or banners. The LEAD that Exhibit E names under criminal justice is Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, a different program with the same initials. Filed a police cargo trailer as youth drug prevention.

The FY2026 report certifies 343,453.47 of unspent and uncommitted funds on hand. That is 64,654.36 more than the 278,799.11 the same report says the Township has received since 2022. After the 8,417.49 the report certifies as spent, no more than 270,381.62 could remain. The 343,453.47 is the Balance YTD on the account's audit trail printed 08/31/2026. It is the account's modified appropriation of 362,366.48 less 18,913.01 paid, a budget figure and not money on hand. Reported 343,453.47 on hand, more than it ever received.

The report certifies 10,495.52 appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent at the end of the year.

The Copiers Plus order did not exist when the year closed. The LEAD block's own encumbered figure, 8,990.00, is the mascot and the wraps, 2,500.00 plus 6,490.00. Counted a July vehicle wrap order as encumbered in FY2026.

The audit trail printed 06/04/2026 shows a modified appropriation of 310,366.20. The trail printed 08/31/2026 shows 362,366.48. The produced records do not show the action that added 52,000.28.

How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.