Lower Township
Lower Township spent its opioid settlement money on a police Camaro and a summer camp payroll, and certified both to the State as prevention programs in figures that equal those payments to the cent.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Lower Township spent 10,220.00 of settlement money on a 2011 Camaro. It bought a full wrap, red, white and blue emergency lights, a siren and light controller, a speaker, wiring, installation and stickers captioned LTPD.
- The FY2025 report gives the Camaro wrap as 3,795.00 encumbered for a Summer Camp program. The wrap had been paid on 06/03/2025.
- The FY2026 report certifies 58,632.88 as Community Wide Special Events/Summer Camps under Primary Prevention, with 0 people served. The figure is camp payroll, an aqua park charge and the Camaro's lights, siren equipment and stickers, to the cent.
- The settlement paid all 62,342.88 of the 2025 summer camp payroll. The Township's own resolution funds the camp through fees and settlement money and describes no prevention content.
- The order that equipped the Camaro charged its last two lines to the Township's Vehicle Purchases line.
- None of the documented payments from the settlement accounts went to a treatment, recovery, harm reduction or prevention provider.
Summary
Lower Township, Cape May County, reported receiving 160,950.69 in opioid settlement money from 2022 through 06/30/2026. The settlements fund programs that address the opioid epidemic and give a non-exhaustive list of uses in Exhibit E. The list covers treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. Nearly every use must be an evidence-based or evidence-informed program. The money must add to what a town already spends, not replace it.
The Township's settlement expense accounts, 5-01-56-750-354 and 5-01-56-750-404, and check 252142 on account 5-01-56-750-785, show 76,162.88 paid out between 03/18/2025 and 09/30/2025. Of that, 10,220.00 went to the Camaro, 62,342.88 to summer camp payroll and 3,600.00 to a charge described as an aqua park. This project classifies all 76,162.88 as not conforming and none as conforming. The camp payroll figure includes 4,975.00, the net of two camp reserve journals.
The Township filed four reports with the Department of Human Services. The first two certify nothing spent. The FY2025 report certifies 13,735.00 spent, the camp payroll in its period to the cent, and gives the Camaro wrap paid in the same period as encumbered. The FY2026 report certifies 58,632.88, the payments in its period to the cent. Both file the money as prevention. Read the Township's findings.
What the Township told the State
| Report | Received in the year | Spent | Encumbered | Unspent on hand | Program named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 24,995.69 | 0.00 | not asked | not asked | Lower Township Healthy Youth Coalition, not yet started |
| FY2024 | 76,931.43 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 106,798.80 | None |
| FY2025 | 34,897.72 | 13,735.00 | 3,795.00 | 120,341.77 | Summer Camp |
| FY2026 | 20,001.66 | 58,632.88 | 0.00 | 68,187.46 | Community Wide Special Events/Summer Camps |
The FY2023 report names one planned program, a Lower Township Healthy Youth Coalition run by Cape Assist, with no funding and no start date. The FY2024 report says the Township funded no programs.
The FY2025 report names one program, Summer Camp, recipient Lower Township, under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training. It says campers "were taught how to make positive choices using Botvins Life Skills" and that the Township partnered with Cape Assist to provide the program. It gives a launch date of 06/23/2025 and 120 participants.
The FY2026 report names one new program, Community Wide Special Events/Summer Camps, recipients the Police and Recreation Departments, again under Primary Prevention. It reports 0 individuals served. Its update for the FY2025 Summer Camp program reports 0.00 spent and 1 participant served.
The Camaro
Three vendors worked on one 2011 Camaro, and the settlement account paid each of them.
| Purchase | Vendor | Check | Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full car wrap | Copiers Plus | 6585 | 06/03/2025 | 3,795.00 |
| Lights, siren controller, speaker, wiring, install | Birch's Communications | 7303 | 08/05/2025 | 6,205.00 |
| LTPD Camaro stickers | Cape Island Graphics | 7258 | 08/05/2025 | 220.00 |
| Settlement account 5-01-56-750-354 | 10,220.00 |
The account prints 10,220.00 expended through 08/31/2026, all of it on the car. Copiers Plus is the Township's copier vendor. In its history with the Township from 2020 to 2026, the wrap is the only purchase that is not copier or duplicator service, supplies or equipment. Paid 10,220.00 to wrap and light a police Camaro.
Birch's purchase order 25-01242 has eleven lines on one invoice, paid by one check.
| Line | Description | Amount | Account charged |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2011 CAMARO - OPIOID PREVENTIO | 2,956.65 | Settlement |
| 2 | FS- SIREN / LIGHT CONTROLER | 566.37 | Settlement |
| 3 | SPEAKER | 234.60 | Settlement |
| 4 | UNIVERSAL SPEAKER BRACKET | 42.99 | Settlement |
| 5 | GRILL LIGHTS RED/WHT/BLU | 288.54 | Settlement |
| 6 | L BRACKET | 35.98 | Settlement |
| 7 | MICROPULSE LIGHTS RED/WHT/BLU | 288.54 | Settlement |
| 8 | DUAL EXTREME - WIRE LEADS | 638.17 | Settlement |
| 9 | PARTIAL INSTALL | 1,153.16 | Settlement |
| 10 | PARTIAL INSTALL | 1,147.49 | Vehicle Purchases |
| 11 | WIRE, LOOM, CIRCUIT BREAKERS, | 150.00 | Vehicle Purchases |
| Total | 7,502.49 |
The Township charged the first nine lines to the settlement and the last two to its own Vehicle Purchases line, 5-01-25-240-255. The same line in the 2023 budget, 3-01-25-240-255, carried Birch's outfitting of 4 new patrol units for 35,959.08. Birch's history with the Township from 05/28/2021 is police and public works vehicle work, among it light bars, sirens, radios and weapons mounts. Cape Island Graphics' check 7258 did the same thing on a smaller scale. It paid 105.00 to partially reletter car 126 from the Vehicle Repairs - Insured line and 220.00 for the Camaro stickers from the settlement account.
Police vehicle outfitting and lettering is a cost the Township carries in its own budget. That the settlement money took over part of it is this project's inference from these records. Police vehicle line paid part of the same Camaro build.
No prevention program using the car is documented. Police vehicle equipment is not among the uses Exhibit E lists.
The summer camp
On 03/17/2025 the Township Council adopted Resolution 2025-126, Authorization for Summer Camp Reserve Fund. It says the Recreation Department "has submitted a budget for the newly established Summer Camp." It says the program "will be self-funded" through fees set by Ordinance 25-09 and through settlement money held in the grant fund. It describes no prevention content. The word opioid appears only as a source of money.
The next day journal 5914 moved 38,543.26 of settlement money to set up the camp reserve. On 04/30/2025 journal 5947 returned 33,568.26. The 4,975.00 kept paid camp payroll.
The camp salary line, 5-01-28-370-168, Regular Salaries - Camp Employees, sits in the Recreation Department. For 2025 it prints an adopted budget of 0.00, 62,342.88 expended and 62,342.88 reimbursed. The settlement paid every reimbursement.
| Date | Reimbursement caption | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 04/30/2025 | SUMMER CAMP RESERVE REIM | 4,975.00 |
| 05/31/2025 | OPIOID CAMP S&W REIM - MAY | 3,562.50 |
| 06/23/2025 | OPIOID CAMP S&W REIM JUNE | 5,197.50 |
| 07/31/2025 | OPIOID REIM CAMP S&W JULY | 24,027.25 |
| 09/30/2025 | OPIOID REIM CAMP S&W AUG/SEPT | 24,580.63 |
| Total | 62,342.88 |
No payment to Cape Assist, the provider the FY2025 report names, appears on the settlement accounts. No prevention program paid for by these wages is documented, and a summer camp is not among the uses Exhibit E lists. Settlement paid the whole 2025 summer camp payroll.
The 2026 camp payroll is on the same line, 6-01-28-370-168. Through 08/20/2026 it shows 46,346.00 paid and nothing reimbursed.
FY2025
The FY2025 report covers 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025. It funds Summer Camp at 17,530.00, with 13,735.00 expended and 3,795.00 encumbered or appropriated.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Camp reserve kept, journals 5914 and 5947 | 4,975.00 |
| Camp salaries, 05/31/2025 | 3,562.50 |
| Camp salaries, 06/23/2025 | 2,312.50 |
| Camp salaries, 06/23/2025 | 2,885.00 |
| Certified expended, Summer Camp | 13,735.00 |
| Camaro wrap, check 6585, 06/03/2025 | 3,795.00 |
| Certified encumbered, Summer Camp | 3,795.00 |
| Certified funding, Summer Camp | 17,530.00 |
The 13,735.00 is camp payroll to the cent. Every payroll check behind it is dated from 03/27/2025 to 06/19/2025, before the launch date the report gives, 06/23/2025.
The 3,795.00 is the Camaro wrap. Check 6585 paid it on 06/03/2025, 27 days before the period closed. The report certifies it as money encumbered for the camp. The orders open on the settlement account at 06/30/2025 were the Birch's order for 6,205.00 and the Cape Island Graphics order for 220.00. The report certifies neither. Certified a paid police car wrap as a camp encumbrance.
FY2026
The State published the Township's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 58,632.88 spent, 0.00 encumbered and 68,187.46 unspent on hand.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| Camp payroll reimbursement, 07/31/2025 | 24,027.25 |
| Camp payroll reimbursement, 09/30/2025 | 24,580.63 |
| Birch's Communications, Camaro lights and siren equipment, check 7303 | 6,205.00 |
| Cape Island Graphics, LTPD Camaro stickers, check 7258 | 220.00 |
| AQUA PARK 07-29-25, check 252142 | 3,600.00 |
| Certified spent, Community Wide Special Events/Summer Camps | 58,632.88 |
The report files all of it under Primary Prevention, Education, and Training, with the purpose "Provide Education and Prevention to area youth and residents." It reports 0 individuals served. It names the Police Department among the recipients. Emergency lights, a siren controller and police stickers are not special events, camps or prevention education. Certified police Camaro lights and camp pay as prevention.
The 68,187.46 the report gives as unspent and uncommitted money on hand is the Township's 2026 appropriation of settlement money, account G-02-40-300-404, with nothing spent from it through 08/31/2026. The same report gives 0.00 as appropriated. By the report's own figures, 160,950.69 received less the 76,162.88 the four reports certify spent or encumbered leaves 84,787.81. Certified its 2026 appropriation as the money on hand.
What the records do not show
- Account 5-01-56-750-785, Grant Expend - 2025 Summer Program, prints 9,515.00 expended in 2025. Only one check on it has been produced, 252142 for 3,600.00. The other 5,915.00 was charged before 09/01/2025, and no page shows what it bought. Neither report's spending figure includes it.
- A 4,200.00 charge captioned LEAD was posted to the settlement account on 02/05/2025 and reversed the same day as a double post. Which account paid it is not in the record.
- The camp salary accounts for 2019 to 2024 have not been produced. Whether the Township paid summer recreation wages from its own budget before 2025 is not yet in the record.
What should happen
The Township has spent 76,162.88 of settlement money on a police car and a summer camp, with no documented prevention program behind either. It can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
The 68,187.46 appropriated for 2026 is still unspent. The 2026 camp payroll of 46,346.00 has not been charged to it. The Township can keep the settlement money off the camp payroll and the police fleet.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2025 and FY2026 reports, who prepared them, and what records support them.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.