Hanover Township
Hanover Township certified a human trafficking talk and its meeting videographer as harm reduction, and its reports to the State count a police charge twice and money it did not have.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Hanover Township, Morris County, reports receiving 154,613.24 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026. Through 09/03/2026 it had spent 18,180.00 of it.
- The FY2026 report certifies 2,880.00 under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. The books show a human trafficking awareness talk and the Township's meeting videographer.
- The FY2025 report certifies 15,600.00 spent. The books show 15,300.00. A 300.00 police charge paid to the Township itself is counted twice.
- The FY2026 report certifies 128,595.41 as encumbered. No order was open. The same report counts the same 128,595.41 as uncommitted.
- The FY2025 report certifies 124,530.72 on hand. That is 2,213.83 more than the Township reports it ever received.
The opioid account showed an unspent balance of 146,955.58 on 09/03/2026.
Summary
Hanover Township reports receiving 154,613.24 in opioid settlement money from 2022 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 held the money in a reserve until 2024. Its Fund 190 summaries show the reserve at 14,623.89 at 12/31/2022 and 37,115.09 at 12/31/2023, with nothing paid. From 2024 the money sits in an appropriation account, Opioid Other Expenses, numbered 4-01, 5-01 and 6-01-55-0128-2499 for each budget year.
The account paid four items through 09/03/2026.
| Date | Check | Payee as printed | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03/13/2025 | 2623 | Herren Talks Inc. | OPIOID 0/E | 15,000.00 |
| 05/08/2025 | 3071 | Township of Hanover | POLICE SERVICE- 4/2/25 WPHS | 300.00 |
| 04/07/2026 | 5260 | Meeting videographer | Recreation Department OE | 1,380.00 |
| 05/05/2026 | 5437 | Speaker | HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS | 1,500.00 |
| Total | 18,180.00 |
Four orders to 4imprint, a promotional products supplier, were received and unpaid on 09/03/2026. They total 1,507.83. No produced record names the items.
This project classes 2,880.00 as non-conforming and 15,300.00 as unverified. No payment is classed conforming, because no agency record describes what the Herren talks covered. Read the Township's findings.
What Hanover told the State
Each town with a direct share files an annual report with the Department of Human Services. The State's fiscal year runs 07/01 to 06/30.
| Report | Certified spent | Paid in the year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Agrees |
| FY2024 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Agrees |
| FY2025 | 15,600.00 | 15,300.00 | 300.00 over |
| FY2026 | 2,880.00 | 2,880.00 | Agrees |
The FY2023 and FY2024 reports certify nothing spent, and the books agree. The FY2024 report's 80,375.97 received to date equals the account value the Township budgeted on 05/13/2024.
FY2025
The FY2025 report certifies 15,600.00 spent and 300.00 of administrative expenses. It describes the administrative expense as "Police Service for a program that was provided." It lists one program, Chris Heren Talks, at 15,300.00 spent, paid to Chris Heren Talks Inc. The program is two presentations at Whippany Park High School on 04/02/2025 on substance use, for high school students. The report counts 463 participants.
The account paid Herren Talks Inc 15,000.00. It paid the Township of Hanover 300.00 for police service at the high school on 04/02/2025. The two payments make the 15,300.00 program figure to the cent. The report then adds the same 300.00 again as administrative cost. That gives 15,600.00. The books show 15,300.00 spent. The speaker was paid 15,000.00, not 15,300.00. FY2025 report counts one 300.00 police charge twice.
Prevention education for young people is a use Exhibit E lists. No contract, invoice or purchase order text describing the talks was produced. The ledger line reads OPIOID 0/E. This project classes the 15,000.00 as unverified. The record does not show which officers were paid the 300.00 or from which payroll line. This project classes it as unverified too.
The FY2025 report also certifies 124,530.72 of unspent and uncommitted funds on hand. The same report certifies 122,316.89 received since 2022. The account balance was 99,179.06 from 06/12/2025 through 08/13/2025. On 08/14/2025, after the period closed, the Township raised the account's appropriation to 139,830.72. That figure less the 15,300.00 paid is 124,530.72. Reported 124,530.72 on hand, more than it ever received.
FY2026
The FY2026 report covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 2,880.00 spent and lists one program, Trafficking. Its stated problem is human trafficking and its stated purpose is trafficking awareness. The report files it under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, with the Schedule B strategies Support People in Treatment and Recovery and Connections to Care. It counts 250 people served. Its procurement answer is "Private presenters and recorders."
The books show two payments that make the figure to the cent. A speaker was paid 1,500.00 on 05/05/2026 for "HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS." The Township's meeting videographer was paid 1,380.00 on 04/07/2026, described as "Recreation Department OE." The same check paid him 385.00 for taping the Township Committee from the general budget.
No listed use covers a human trafficking talk or event recording, and no treatment, recovery or overdose program behind either payment is documented. This project classes both as non-conforming. Certified a human trafficking talk as harm reduction.
In 2023 and in 2026 the Township paid the videographer 385.00 a meeting to tape the Township Committee from the general budget. On 12/21/2023 the Township ordered 1,500.00 to him from that same general line for an "OCT. 3 MENTAL HLTH SYMP," paid by check 065001 on 12/28/2023. The opioid reserve then held 37,115.09 unspent.
The report certifies 128,595.41 both as appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent and as unspent and uncommitted on hand. Its program block certifies 0.00 encumbered. 128,595.41 is the account balance from 06/25/2026 to 08/04/2026. No order was open on 06/30/2026. The next order was entered on 08/05/2026. Certified 128,595.41 encumbered with no order open.
What should happen
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The FY2025 report's spending and on hand totals do not match the Township's own books. The FY2026 report's encumbered figure has no order behind it. The Department of Human Services can ask the Township for the work behind it.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.