Ocean Township
Ocean Township in Monmouth County certified photo booths, festival giveaways, bikes and police T-shirts to the State as drug prevention, accounted in FY2024 for 33,886.29 more than it had received, and filed no FY2026 report after its settlement accounts paid 21,108.96.
Published 10/03/2026 · Updated 10/04/2026
TLDR
- Ocean Township told the State that photo booths, kites, giveaways and bikes were opioid prevention. The books show 8,051.45 of them.
- Two of those programs were events the Township's own report says were cancelled for weather. The bikes were paid for two months after one of them.
- It certified a police anti-drug curriculum twice. The books show 3,766.25 of T-shirts and no curriculum.
- Its FY2024 report accounts for 208,576.58. It had received 174,690.29.
- It filed no FY2026 report. Its settlement accounts paid 21,108.96 that year.
Summary
Ocean Township, Monmouth County, State ID NJ165, reported receiving 238,306.81 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2025. 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 put the money into two budget accounts. Resolution 23-136, passed 06/22/2023, inserted 58,510.54 as account G-02-41-912-301. Resolution 24-117, passed 06/06/2024, inserted 101,094.91 as account G-02-41-912-302. The two accounts carry 159,605.45. Neither prints a receipt, and no revenue account was produced. The Township has not said where the other 78,701.36 it reported receiving is held.
Through 09/09/2026 the accounts paid 90,424.73. The first account is spent to 0.00. The second held 69,180.72. Read the Township's findings.
What it told the State
| Year | Certified spent | Paid in the year | Report |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 | Filed |
| FY2024 | 51,589.01 | 51,589.01 | Filed |
| FY2025 | 16,133.31 | 16,133.31 | Filed |
| FY2026 | none | 21,108.96 | No Report Received |
The State's fiscal year runs 07/01 to 06/30.
The spending totals match the books. The FY2024 report certifies 51,589.01 spent, and the 24 payments from the first account in that year make the figure to the cent. The FY2025 report certifies 16,133.31, the net the accounts paid after a 2,000.00 National Night Out charge was voided and a 2,250.00 software fee was refunded.
The rest of the FY2024 report does not add up. It certifies 174,690.29 received since 2022. It then certifies 51,589.01 spent, 108,016.44 appropriated or encumbered and 48,971.13 unspent and on hand. Those three figures total 208,576.58, which is 33,886.29 more than the Township says it received. Accounted for 33,886.29 more than it had received.
The 108,016.44 is the whole unspent balance of both accounts on 06/30/2024. Four orders were open that day, for 4,684.28. The second account had no order against it at all until 07/15/2024. Reported 103,332.16 as committed with no order behind it.
The FY2025 report certifies 0.00 encumbered and 170,584.49 on hand. That is the 238,306.81 received less the 67,722.32 certified spent over three years.
FY2026
The State published the FY2026 reports on 10/01/2026. The Township's page reads No Report Received.
The accounts paid 21,108.96 between 07/01/2025 and 06/30/2026.
| Payee | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey State Elks Association | 37th Annual Elks Peer event | 6,160.00 |
| Playbl, Inc. | Tier 1 and Tier 2 prevention, vaping prevention | 6,500.00 |
| Township of Ocean | Summer camp, two checks | 3,150.00 |
| Corporate Payment Systems | Counseling record and scheduling software, eight charges | 2,421.22 |
| T-shirt vendor | OTPD L.E.A.D. t-shirts | 2,177.75 |
| Counselor | Counselor training | 699.99 |
| Total | 21,108.96 |
None of these payments or programs has been reported to the State. Filed no FY2026 report after spending 21,108.96.
The spending continued after the year closed. The account paid Party Perfect Rentals 1,337.50 for a National Night Out water slide on 08/13/2026, and 255.95 on a procurement card described as National Night Out opioid expense on 08/19/2026.
Where the money went
| Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|
| EMDR and trauma training for Township clinicians, PESI | 20,999.99 |
| School speakers and presentations | 11,200.00 |
| Fatal Vision impairment goggles | 9,658.44 |
| National Night Out and Fall Fest photo booths, giveaways, kites, bikes and a water slide | 8,203.93 |
| Playbl prevention programs | 6,500.00 |
| Elks Peer event | 6,160.00 |
| Police L.E.A.D. t-shirts | 5,944.00 |
| Amazon orders | 5,039.43 |
| Summer camp paid to the Township | 4,380.00 |
| Counseling record and scheduling software | 3,708.22 |
| Reimbursements for books, refreshments and supplies | 2,901.12 |
| Student substance use screening and counselor training | 2,927.49 |
| Procurement card charges not itemized | 2,802.11 |
| Paid through 09/09/2026 | 90,424.73 |
This project classifies 2,227.50 as conforming. That is the SASSI student screening program and a substance abuse training course, which the purchase orders themselves describe. It classifies 18,947.33 as non-conforming. That is the photo booths, giveaways, kites, event supplies, bikes, water slide, police T-shirts and books on phone use, none of which a listed use covers. The other 69,249.90 is unverified. The record does not show an evidence-based program behind it, and it does not rule one out. The counseling software is in that group because only the Township's report label ties it to treatment.
What the records show
The reports describe each program in their own words, and the payments behind them tie to the cent. The ledger and the vendor histories show what the payments bought.
Event giveaways certified as prevention
The Township ran its event spending under one name, Ocean High on Life...Not Drugs. The FY2023 report describes the National Night Out campaign as a photo booth and goodie bags with frisbees. The FY2024 report puts its cost at 2,526.88. The books show a 1,350.00 photo booth, 724.78 of Amazon supplies and 452.10 of giveaways.
The FY2024 report certifies the campaign at Fall Fest at 3,280.14 as education for parents to talk with children about opioid use disorder. The figure is three vendors. Fire Safety Education giveaways were 1,480.14. A photo booth for the Fall Fest was 1,350.00. Kites were 450.00. The kites came off one Fun Express order whose other Fall Fest giveaways, on the same invoice and check, went to the Township's fee for service supplies line.
The FY2025 report certifies the campaign at Fall Fest at 1,785.97 and says the 2024 event was cancelled for weather. It certifies the campaign at National Night Out at 458.46, names Target as the recipient, says the 08/06/2024 event was cancelled for weather and reports 0 participants. The 458.46 is a check to the Township of Ocean itself for National Night Out bikes on 10/10/2024. The ledger shows the same 458.46 first entered as a reimbursement on another order and deleted. Certified photo booths and giveaways as drug education.
T-shirts certified as a curriculum
The FY2024 and FY2025 reports each certify a L.E.A.D. program, an anti-drug curriculum taught by police officers in the intermediate school. The books show the money bought T-shirts, 1,938.75 and 1,827.50. No curriculum cost appears. Certified police T-shirts as an anti-drug curriculum.
The vendor's history shows the Township buying the same shirts in 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023, paid from Community Hope L.E.A.D. grant accounts and in 2023 partly from the police clothing and uniforms line. In FY2026 the settlement account paid another 2,177.75 for the shirts to a new vendor.
Books on phone use certified as prevention
The FY2024 report certifies a Cell Phone Social Media Task Force at 882.28 and an Anxious Generation program at 1,680.00. The FY2025 report adds a second Anxious Generation program at 1,052.10. The reports say the programs share research on the harm of a phone-based childhood with school faculty and the Board of Education. The books show 3,614.38 of books. Certified books on phone use as drug prevention.
Other spending
The FY2025 report certifies Support in Treatment and Recovery at 1,230.00. It describes free summer camp for the children of residents in treatment or recovery, a use the settlement lists. The payment is a check to the Township of Ocean for its resident summer camp program. Two more camp checks to the Township, 1,575.00 each, followed in FY2026. The records do not show who attended.
The Township paid PESI for clinician continuing education from its own continuing education line in 2018, 2019 and 2020. It paid PESI 20,999.99 for EMDR and trauma training from the settlement account in 2024. In October 2025 it paid PESI from the continuing education line again.
What should happen
The Township has spent settlement money in a year it did not report. The State cannot check spending it has not been told about.
Its reports describe parent education, a police curriculum and treatment support. Its books show photo booths, giveaways, bikes, T-shirts and books on phone use. The Township can document the programs or restore the money to the fund.
The Department of Human Services should ask the Township where the 78,701.36 it reported receiving beyond the two accounts is held, and for the records behind its FY2026 spending, its procurement card charges and its Amazon orders.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.