Mount Laurel Township
Mount Laurel Township reported its opioid settlement spending to the State to the cent each year, and filed police-run outreach events, paid mostly as Township payroll, under Treatment.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Mount Laurel Township received 350,230.88 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026.
- Its account paid 291,298.94 through 08/30/2026. 178,609.15 of that was Township payroll.
- The payroll report names 36 employees. It gives no title and no hours for any of them.
- The Township told the State the money ran one program, Active Outreach for Opioid Recovery, primary category Treatment.
- The program is police-hosted outreach events. None of the money went to a treatment provider.
- The reports count over 600, then over 950, units of Narcan handed out. The account never bought any.
- Traffic cones, police strobes, staff shirts, bubble wands and sunglasses went in as Treatment too.
- The spending totals tie to the cent every year. The FY2023 receipts figure does not.
The spending figures are accurate. The label is not.
Summary
Mount Laurel Township, Burlington County, reports 350,230.88 in opioid settlement money received since 2022. The national settlements list uses for the money, among them treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The list is not exhaustive. Other documented, evidence-based programs that address the epidemic also qualify. In either case the money must supplement local spending, not replace it.
The Township keeps the money in one account, G-05-00-984-100, National Opioid Settlement. The first payment left it on 12/12/2023. Through 08/30/2026 the account paid 291,298.94 and had 3,115.90 in open orders.
All but three of the non-payroll purchase orders on the account carry the police department prefix POL. The three are two Home Depot supply orders and one employee reimbursement. The DHS reports describe the program as run by the Mount Laurel Police Department. The FY2026 report names the Chief of Police and a police lieutenant as the officials who decided how to spend the money.
What the money paid for
| Spending | Amount |
|---|---|
| Township payroll, 45 charges | 178,609.15 |
| Event food, Wegmans, Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, Haddon Culinary | 34,650.14 |
| Hygiene kits, clothing, giveaway goods, event gear and employee reimbursements | 26,949.20 |
| 8.5 by 20 trailer, hitch and spare tire | 19,355.55 |
| Fatal Vision Opioid impairment simulation kit | 11,596.43 |
| One line of a police vehicle upfit | 7,718.01 |
| Certified Public Manager tuition, Rutgers | 4,100.00 |
| reMarkable tablet and warranty | 3,543.96 |
| Vehicle lettering, Mount Laurel C.A.R.E.S | 2,600.00 |
| Navy blue traffic items and set up fee | 1,526.50 |
| Confidential funds paid to the Township | 650.00 |
| Paid through 08/30/2026 | 291,298.94 |
Supplies for active outreach to people who use drugs can serve a listed use. The Township produced no event record, sign-in sheet or program document for any of it. This project therefore classes almost all of the spending as unverified. The police vehicle upfit line, traffic gear, staff shirts, toys and giveaways are classed non-conforming, 10,689.52 in all. None is classed conforming.
What the Township told the State
| Year | Certified spent | Paid in the year | Payroll in the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2024 | 29,144.92 | 29,144.92 | 18,230.78 |
| FY2025 | 92,912.89 | 92,912.89 | 44,900.32 |
| FY2026 | 159,124.11 | 159,124.11 | 105,843.20 |
| Total | 281,181.92 | 281,181.92 | 168,974.30 |
Each year's certified figure equals the payments in that year's window to the cent. The FY2026 report gives 69,048.96 unspent on hand, which is 350,230.88 received less 281,181.92 spent. Spending figures match the books to the cent.
The receipts are another matter. The FY2023 report gives 60,730.06 received as of 06/30/2023. The revenue trails post 72,566.41 by that date, including 11,836.35 on 06/16/2023. The FY2024 report then gives 156,594.28 received in its year, 11,836.35 more than the trails post for that window. Understated FY2023 receipts by 11,836.35.
Outreach events filed as Treatment
The FY2024 report lists one program, Active Outreach for Opioid Recovery. It describes 4 to 6 large-scale multidiscipline events a year that the Mount Laurel Police Department hosts. It gives the launch date as 12/12/2023. That is the date of the first payroll charge and the first two Chick-fil-A orders on the account. It files the program under primary category Treatment. The FY2025 and FY2026 reports update the same program.
Exhibit E's Treatment uses are treatment for opioid use disorder. Active outreach appears in Exhibit E under section D, as the DART model. The account paid no treatment provider, clinician or licensed program. It paid payroll, food, supplies, a trailer and equipment.
The FY2025 report counts over 600 units of Narcan distributed. The FY2026 report counts over 950. Through 08/30/2026 the account shows no naloxone purchase. Certified police outreach events as opioid treatment.
Traffic gear, shirts and toys
Some of what went in as Treatment is not covered by any listed use. In 2024 the account paid 1,526.50 for 28 inch navy blue traffic items and a set up fee. In 2025 it paid 109.20 for LED emergency strobes and 31.25 for traffic wands. It paid 168.00 for shirts for staff. It paid 654.39 for stuffed bears, bubble wands, coloring books, playground balls, footballs, sidewalk chalk and a 96 pack of sunglasses. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports count all of it inside the Treatment program. Certified toys, traffic gear and staff shirts as treatment.
The Township's police department bought traffic cones from its materials and supplies line in 2025 and 2026. In August 2026 the account paid 482.17 more for bulk crayons and glue sticks. No report covering that spending is due yet.
The payroll
The Township's payroll report for the account totals 178,609.15. It matches the 45 payroll charges on the account to the cent. It names 36 employees and lists an amount for each check date. It does not give a title, hours or a pay code.
Twelve of the names appear in the Township's police salary and wage audit trails. They show up in overtime reimbursements from the county narcotics task force and Homeland Security Investigations, and in disability and vacation entries.
Through 10/31/2024 the payroll was small amounts spread across many employees. From 11/27/2024 on, four employees received 137,924.80, 77.2 percent of all the payroll the account paid. The records do not show what work the hours paid for. Paid 178,609.15 of payroll with no titles or hours.
A police car upfit
Purchase order 24-02810 is one upfit for a 2023 Ford, invoice INV6122, 20,645.37. The Township split it in two lines. 12,927.36 went to the state forfeiture reserve. 7,718.01 went to the settlement account. Both were paid on 05/22/2025.
Three months before that order was opened, the Township ordered an upfit for a 2023 Ford from the same vendor at the same 20,645.37. It charged all of that one to the police vehicle purchase line. The vendor history shows police vehicle upfits paid since 2020 from police capital ordinances, forfeiture funds, a K-9 reserve and police operating lines. Paid part of a police car upfit with settlement money.
Confidential funds
On 10/03/2024 the account paid 650.00 to the Township of Mount Laurel on a purchase order described as POL CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS. A second order with the same description and payee, 960.00, was open on 08/24/2026. No purpose or voucher is in the records. Paid 650.00 of confidential funds to the Township itself.
Other purchases
The trailer cost 18,782.54, with 452.94 for a hitch and 120.07 for a spare tire. The Township's earlier police trailer from the same vendor was paid from a police capital ordinance. No record shows how the new trailer is used.
One Thanksgiving dinner order from Haddon Culinary was split. 7,950.00 went to the police unallocated line and 1,060.00 to the settlement account.
What should happen
The Township reports accurate spending totals. It does not report what they bought. The DHS form asks for a category, and the Township chose Treatment for police-hosted events paid mostly as payroll.
The Township can produce the time records behind the 178,609.15, with titles, hours and pay codes. It can document the events, the trailer's use and the confidential funds. Spending that no listed use or documented program supports can be restored to the fund from the Township's own budget.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller can examine the FY2024 through FY2026 reports and the payroll behind them.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.