North Plainfield Borough
North Plainfield certified a 37,852.00 police Ford Escape to the State as a treatment program, certified 47,704.50 of CPR machines, AEDs and suction units as Treatment, and certified a 3,500.00 assembly its own ledger had already moved off the settlement account.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- North Plainfield paid 37,852.00 from its settlement account for a 2026 Ford Escape the ledger enters as PD-2026 Ford Escape. Its FY2026 report certifies the same 37,852.00 as a Quick Response Team program under Treatment.
- No staff, provider or other cost of a quick response team appears on either settlement account.
- The FY2025 report certifies 47,704.50 of chest compression devices, AEDs and suction units as Treatment. Asked how the program addresses opioid use disorder, it answers N/A.
- The FY2024 report certifies a 3,500.00 school assembly the ledger had moved back off the settlement account seven months before the year closed.
- 9,805.08 of the FY2025 police training figure is a journal that moved Fire Department charges onto the grant. No voucher for it was produced.
The only spending the record ties to opioid use disorder is 28,350.00 of course seats. The vehicle alone cost 37,852.00.
Summary
North Plainfield Borough, Somerset County, reported receiving 277,400.69 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 listed uses cover treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction.
The Borough charges settlement spending to two grant accounts, G-02-40-771-201 and G-02-40-771-202. Through 07/09/2026 they show 159,254.94 paid and 7,693.32 in open orders. The audit trail prints 143,434.18 as expended. That is the same payments less 15,820.76 of prior year opioid cash receipts that a 07/31/2025 journal credited to the grant line. A third account, G-02-40-771-203, was budgeted at 63,306.75 for 2026 and showed no activity on 05/29/2026. It was left out of the 07/09/2026 print.
This project classifies 28,350.00 of the payments as conforming, 94,144.00 as non-conforming and 36,760.94 as unverified. Read the Borough's findings.
What the Borough told the State
| Report | Received in the year | Certified spent | Paid from the accounts in the same window |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 61,176.23, through 06/30/2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2024 | 102,608.69 | 3,600.00 | 100.00 |
| FY2025 | 65,165.96 | 97,468.44 | 97,468.44 |
| FY2026 | 48,449.81 | 57,375.36 | 61,686.50 |
FY2023 is accurate. The first payment from either account is dated 10/24/2023.
FY2024 certifies 3,600.00. The books show 100.00, because the 3,500.00 assembly the report certifies was reversed off the account in December 2023. The 2,303.14 the report certifies as encumbered equals the four orders open on 06/30/2024 to the cent.
FY2025 certifies 97,468.44, and the two accounts paid exactly that. Each of the six program figures ties to its own payments. FY2025 spending total ties the ledger to the cent. What two of those figures contain is set out below.
FY2026 certifies 57,375.36, the sum of its program figures plus a 2,500.00 stipend for the administrator who completes the report. The accounts paid 61,686.50 in the year. Four program figures, the Advanced Mental Health Institute lecture, National Night Out, the Summer Teen Evening Program and the police Youth Academy, tie to the books to the cent. National Night Out, filed under Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention, is catering, face painters, Italian ice, plates and an Amazon order. Four FY2026 program figures tie to the books.
The Ford Escape
The FY2026 report lists a new program named Quick Response Team at 37,852.00. It describes early intervention and connecting people with treatment, recovery and support services after substance related incidents. It reports 100 people served. It files the program under the primary category Treatment, with Treat Opioid Use Disorder first among its Schedule B strategies. It names the Mayor, the Police Chief and the Fire Chief as the officials who decided how the money was spent.
The report adds one detail about the program. "Vehicle purchased for this team to utilize for responses."
The ledger shows what the 37,852.00 bought.
| Record | Detail |
|---|---|
| Purchase order | 26-00829, first encumbered 05/07/2026 |
| Description | PD-2026 Ford Escape |
| Vendor | Nielsen Ford of Morristown Inc |
| Payment | Check 1153, 06/23/2026 |
| Amount | 37,852.00 |
The ledger enters police department purchases with the prefix PD-. No staff, outreach provider, treatment referral or any other cost of a quick response team appears on either account through 07/09/2026. A vehicle is not treatment for opioid use disorder, and no listed use covers a police vehicle. No quick response team using this vehicle is documented. Certified a police Ford Escape as a treatment program.
The emergency medical equipment
The FY2025 report lists a program named Emergency Medical Equipment at 47,704.50. It describes the program as "2 automatic chest compression machines, 10 AEDs, 3 suction units" and files it under Treatment. It gives the problem addressed as medical equipment used to treat overdoses. Asked how the program addresses opioid use disorder, it answers N/A. Its performance indicator reads "Does not apply." It says the equipment was added to Fire Department ambulances and police vehicles.
| Order | Vendor | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25-00739 | Lifesavers, Inc. | 2 ARM XR chest compression devices, 2 three year service contracts, batteries and a charger | 34,935.00 |
| 25-00740 | Lifesavers, Inc. | 10 Defibtech Lifeline AEDs with adult pads | 9,397.50 |
| 25-00741 | V.E. Ralph and Son | 3 Laerdal suction units | 3,372.00 |
| Total | 47,704.50 |
The three orders make the certified figure to the cent. 9,000.00 of it is the service contracts. Chest compression devices and defibrillators treat cardiac arrest, and suction units clear an airway. No overdose program using this equipment is documented, and none of it is among the uses Exhibit E lists. Certified CPR machines and AEDs as overdose treatment.
The FY2024 assembly
The FY2024 report certifies 3,500.00 to a program named Not an Easy Fix, an assembly teaching high school students about drug awareness. The account paid Not An Easy Fix, Inc. 3,500.00 by check 1459 on 10/24/2023. On 12/01/2023 a journal titled "Reclass Ck#1459 PO#23-01810" credited the same 3,500.00 back to the account. From that date the settlement account bore none of the cost. The audit trail does not show which account took the charge. The only charge the account carried in the year was 100.00 for LEAD training. Certified 3,500.00 of spending the ledger had reversed.
The training figure and the fire journal
The Borough bought 63 seats at 450.00 each in a ZSchool certificate course for police officers and first responders, Operational Readiness, Practical Strategies for Addressing Opioid Use Disorder and Co-occurring Conditions. The three invoices produced name the course. The seats cost 28,350.00, and this project classifies them as conforming.
The FY2025 report certifies the course program, Operational Readiness for Police Officers, at 36,355.08. The ZSchool seats paid in that year total 26,550.00. The other 9,805.08 is a journal posted 06/24/2025 with the comment "rcls from FD -3/20/25-06/12/25." It moved Fire Department charges for that period onto the grant. Once the year's other program figures are matched, no other set of payments makes 36,355.08. Training figure includes an undocumented fire journal.
Two more journals followed. One on 08/21/2025, "AUGUST 21 pay," charged 3,600.00 with no payee printed. One on 10/16/2025, "Fire S&W-OPIOD," charged 7,152.00 of Fire Department salary and wages. The three journals total 20,557.08. The Borough produced no voucher, payee, pay period or originating account for any of them. The record does not show what they paid for.
Where the fund has gone
| Purchase | Classification | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| ZSchool opioid use disorder course, 63 seats | Conforming | 28,350.00 |
| Chest compression devices, AEDs and suction units | Non-conforming | 47,704.50 |
| PD-2026 Ford Escape | Non-conforming | 37,852.00 |
| National Night Out food, face painters and supplies | Non-conforming | 3,695.60 |
| Police Youth Academy uniforms, food, gift cards, buses and a bagpiper | Non-conforming | 3,156.90 |
| Summer Teen Evening Program shirts and pizza | Non-conforming | 1,735.00 |
| Three journals with no voucher produced | Unverified | 20,557.08 |
| School assemblies, drug education programs and materials | Unverified | 11,203.86 |
| First responder lecture | Unverified | 5,000.00 |
| Paid through 07/09/2026 | 159,254.94 |
The 7,693.32 open on 07/09/2026 includes 2,464.00 of Youth Academy uniforms, 1,972.80 of Fire Department oxygen bottles and regulators and two more National Night Out face painters.
What should happen
The Borough has spent 85,556.50 of the fund on a vehicle and on emergency medical equipment it certified to the State under labels the purchases do not fit. It can restore that money to the fund and spend it on a listed use or a documented abatement program.
It can put on the record what the three journals paid for, 20,557.08 in all, and the activity on account G-02-40-771-203 after 05/29/2026.
The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2024, 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.