Howell Township
Howell Township reports orders placed in a year as money spent in that year, certified a police data service as diversion from incarceration and vape detectors as overdose prevention, filed graduation giveaways as opioid prevention, and moved a yearly school assembly from its own budget onto the settlement account.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Howell's FY2023 report counts 39,032.00 for a five year LeadsOnline police data plan as spent and files it under Diversion from Incarceration. Two years later the program is at 0.00 and the FY2026 report says it ended.
- The FY2025 and FY2026 reports count purchase orders by the date they were placed. Older orders paid in the year drop out. Orders still unpaid at year end count as spent. Both reports say nothing was encumbered.
- The FY2024 report certifies 10,248.00 for bathroom vape detectors under a program filed as Overdose Prevention.
- Three reports certify 7,143.47 of L.E.A.D. graduation bags, stress balls, pens, pencils and fishing prizes as opioid prevention.
- The FY2026 report puts 1,464.33 more on hand than its own figures leave.
- The local budget paid 1,500.00 for the high school assembly in 2023. The settlement account has paid the same 1,500.00 every year since. The FY2025 report says there is no supplanting.
Summary
Howell Township, Monmouth County, reports receiving 430,777.01 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 Township's settlement account, G-02-XX-06081-000, paid 60,583.26 from 02/05/2024 through 08/31/2026. That is 50,583.26 to vendors and two 5,000.00 journals to the Municipal Alliance coordinator's salary line. One order for 1,820.00 was open on 08/31/2026. The account held 343,408.58 that day.
Most of the money goes to the Municipal Alliance, the Township's prevention office. It buys school assemblies, printed resource cards, prize bags for L.E.A.D. graduations, counseling at the senior center and conference fees. This project classifies 2,033.97 of the spending as conforming, 15,111.42 as non-conforming and 43,437.87 as unverified. Conforming needs a purchase order, invoice or other agency record showing opioid content. Most purchase orders here say counseling, presentation or prevention, and no invoice or program material was produced. Read the Township's findings.
Settlement spending before 12/29/2023 sat on a current fund account, 3-01-41-03592-701. The Township did not produce that account's report. FY2023 and the first half of FY2024 are a records gap. They cannot be tested against the books.
What the Township told the State
| Report | Received in the year | Certified spent | Encumbered | Administration | Unspent on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 86,933.83 to date | 69,772.30 | not asked | 0.00 | not asked |
| FY2024 | 173,418.55 | 32,182.13 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 158,397.95 |
| FY2025 | 101,575.54 | 21,870.06 | 0.00 | 5,000.00 | 238,103.43 |
| FY2026 | 68,849.09 | 16,265.48 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 292,151.37 |
The receipts the FY2025 and FY2026 reports give match the charges into the grant fund account in each year to the cent.
The police data service
The FY2023 report lists four programs. One is named Substance Use/Mental Health Support Services for People Engaging in Criminal Activity. Its recipient is LeadsOnline. Its primary category is Diversion from Incarceration. It was funded 05/22/2023 at 39,032.00 "for 5-year plan."
The report describes the program as use of LeadsOnline police data on crimes, crime patterns, stolen property and investigations to offer support resources. It reports no clients served.
The report certifies 69,772.30 expended. That is the four programs' funding amounts added together, so the 39,032.00 is counted as spent.
The FY2025 report updates the program at 0.00 with no modifications and says the Township is still working on a program to connect people in contact with police with treatment. The FY2026 report updates it at 0.00 and says the program has ended. No payment to LeadsOnline appears in any record the Township produced. The account that carried FY2023 spending was not produced. Exhibit E names pre-arrest diversion and deflection programs. It does not name a police data service, and no diversion program using this one is documented. Certified a police data service as diversion from jail.
Vape detectors
The FY2023 report lists 25,493.31 for one program that placed Narcan kits in the schools and town buildings and installed vape and noise detectors in school bathrooms. It files the program under Overdose Prevention and names the problem as underage e-cigarette use, nicotine and marijuana. The report does not split the 25,493.31 between the kits and the detectors.
The FY2024 report adds 10,248.00 for more middle school bathroom vape detectors and says it was expended in FY2024. The certified FY2024 total, 32,182.13, is the three new programs plus this 10,248.00, to the cent. The FY2025 and FY2026 reports repeat the figure. The grant fund account shows no payment for vape detectors. The account that carried spending before 12/29/2023 was not produced. Vape detectors are not among the uses Exhibit E lists, and no prevention or cessation program using them is documented. Certified school vape detectors as overdose prevention.
Orders placed, not payments made
The FY2025 report covers 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025. It certifies 21,870.06 expended and nothing encumbered.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Paid from the account in the period | 24,575.48 |
| Less four payments on orders placed before 07/01/2024 | -4,455.42 |
| Plus two orders open on 06/30/2025 | 1,750.00 |
| Certified expended, FY2025 | 21,870.06 |
The four payments left out are a tent and table covers, prevention items, videos and banners, paid 07/16/2024 to 08/15/2024. The two orders added were paid on 07/01/2025 and 10/15/2025. The program updates and the 5,000.00 administration figure split the certified total to the cent. Reported orders placed, not payments, as FY2025 spending.
The FY2024 report used the same method. It lists a program named Community and Police Engagement at 2,745.00 expended. The purchase is a tent top and table covers from USA Custom Tents. The order was placed 05/30/2024. Check 95129 paid it on 07/16/2024, in FY2025. The FY2025 report leaves it out. The FY2024 report says nothing was encumbered while four orders for 4,455.42 were open on 06/30/2024. The program is a space for police demonstrations at community events. Police community relations equipment is not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Reported a tent paid in FY2025 as FY2024 spending.
FY2026
The State published the Township's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 16,265.48 spent and nothing encumbered.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Paid from the account in the period | 13,870.48 |
| Less two payments already counted in FY2025 | -1,750.00 |
| Plus three checks of 07/15/2026 | 2,325.00 |
| Plus order 26-02664, still open on 08/31/2026 | 1,820.00 |
| Certified spent, FY2026 | 16,265.48 |
The three program updates split the figure to the cent. Community behavioral health education and outreach is 8,895.00. Student and parent education is 6,500.48. Unwanted Medication Disposal is 870.00. Counted an unpaid order and July checks as FY2026 spending.
On 06/30/2026 four orders were open for 4,425.00. The report counts 4,145.00 of them as spent and reports nothing encumbered. One of them, 1,820.00 for senior center counseling, had not been paid by 08/31/2026. Reported nothing encumbered with a 1,820.00 order open.
The FY2026 report certifies 292,151.37 unspent on hand. The FY2025 unspent figure, plus FY2026 receipts, less FY2026 spending, is 290,687.04. The total received less the four reports' certified spending is also 290,687.04. The account printed 290,687.04 after the checks of 07/15/2026. The certified figure is 1,464.33 higher. That is the amount of the 05/29/2026 check for L.E.A.D. bags, which the same report counts as spent. Certified 1,464.33 more on hand than its own figures leave.
The Student and parent education figure also includes 2,394.00 for a L.E.A.D. conference and training on 06/16/2026.
Giveaways and a button maker
Each year's Student and parent education program is filed under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training with the Schedule B strategy Prevent Misuse of Opioids. The FY2025 and FY2026 updates say the money funded Hooked on Fishing prizes and youth give-aways and L.E.A.D. graduation incentives and give-aways. The FY2026 update calls both events evidence-based programs.
| Year | Items | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | L.E.A.D. graduation bags and a graduation giveaway | 1,680.85 |
| FY2025 | Fishing cinch sacks, stress balls, message pens, cinch bags and fishing prizes | 3,028.14 |
| FY2026 | Fishing prizes, stress balls, pencils and bags | 2,434.48 |
| Total | 7,143.47 |
Giveaway merchandise and prizes are not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Certified giveaways and fishing prizes as opioid prevention.
The FY2025 report certifies 722.95 under Community and Police Engagement for a button making machine, for youth to make buttons with police officers at events. The books show American Button Machines check 95820 for a photo button maker kit, 722.95. Certified a photo button maker as opioid prevention.
What the settlement account buys
| Use | Paid |
|---|---|
| Senior center counseling by a licensed counselor, paid through 08/31/2026 | 5,040.00 |
| Assemblies and presentations | 12,337.50 |
| L.E.A.D. and Hooked on Fishing bags, prizes, cards, signs and pencils | 8,201.42 |
| Conferences and training | 10,175.00 |
| Resource cards, banners, disposal packets, videos and impairment goggles | 11,361.39 |
| Tent, table covers and button maker | 3,467.95 |
| Salary journals to the Municipal Alliance coordinator's wage line | 10,000.00 |
| Total | 60,583.26 |
Conferences and training include the coordinator's 3,816.00 public relations certification at Rutgers, the L.E.A.D. Summit and conference, the NJ Elks Peer Leadership Conference and a NJ Prevention Network conference. The two salary journals are dated 05/23/2025 and 08/19/2026. The current fund appropriates and pays the coordinator's salary in full. The FY2025 report certifies the first journal as administration and says the funds do not supplant.
The same items, a new account
The Township produced vendor histories back to 2018. They show where several yearly costs sat before the settlement money arrived.
| Item | Paid before from | Paid since from the settlement account |
|---|---|---|
| Simons Says presentation at Howell High School | Municipal Alliance line, 1,000.00 in 2019 and 2022, 1,500.00 in 2023 | 1,500.00 a year, 2024 to 2026 |
| NJ Elks Peer Leadership Conference | Municipal Alliance line, 2019, 1,915.00 in 2020 and 2,490.00 in 2023 | 1,540.00, 2024 |
| L.E.A.D. graduation bags, Amsley Promotions | Municipal Alliance line, 1,614.00 in 2022 and 1,410.00 in 2023 | 1,377.00, 1,495.44 and 1,464.33, 2024 to 2026 |
| Hooked on Fishing cinch sacks, Amsley Promotions | Municipal Alliance line, 569.00 in 2023 | 602.00, 2025 |
| L.E.A.D. graduation stress balls, Daybreak Marketing | Municipal Alliance line, 353.85 in 2023 | 303.85, 408.20 and 460.20, 2024 to 2026 |
| CARE cards for L.E.A.D. graduations, Little Hat Marketing | Municipal Alliance line, 135.00 in 2023 | 198.00, 243.00 and 172.00, 2024 to 2026 |
The Municipal Alliance operating line, Youth Guidance specialized expenses, was adopted at 18,000.00 in 2025. It was cut by a 5,000.00 transfer on 11/26/2025 and adopted at 13,000.00 in 2026.
The FY2025 report says the settlement money expands existing programs or funds new ones, with no supplanting. The high school assembly cost the local budget 1,500.00 in 2023. The settlement account has paid the same 1,500.00 for it in each of the three years since. Moved a yearly school assembly onto the settlement account. The other rows changed price when they moved, so the record does not show the same cost to the cent.
What the records do not show
- The account report for 3-01-41-03592-701, which held the FY2023 spending. The vendor histories show five payments on it, 4,808.00 in all, from 05/31/2023 to 11/30/2023.
- Any payment for the vape detectors, the Narcan kits or LeadsOnline.
- Invoices, contracts or program material for the counseling, presentations, videos and printed cards.
- The journal vouchers behind the two salary journals.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.