Town of Phillipsburg
The Town of Phillipsburg paid all 313,451.73 of its settlement spending to a Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion provider, then certified 298,882.00 spent in a year it paid 87,212.00 and 61,541.19 spent in a year it paid 226,239.73.
Published 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Phillipsburg spent its opioid settlement money on one program. All 313,451.73 went to Morris County Prevention Is Key for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion.
- The FY2025 report certifies 298,882.00 spent. The account paid 87,212.00 in that year.
- The difference is a 134,031.00 administrative figure added on top of a program figure that already counted every check. No payment matches it.
- The FY2026 report certifies 61,541.19 spent, the same number it reports receiving. It says the Town funded no program. The account paid the program 226,239.73 that year.
- The FY2026 report calls 54,316.52 of that spending payroll. The settlement account paid no payroll.
- Three reports state the money on hand. None of the figures fits the Town's own receipts.
The spending holds up. The reports do not.
Summary
The Town of Phillipsburg, Warren County, State ID NJ179, reports receiving 371,745.81 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2026. The national settlements list uses for the money, among them treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and diversion. The list is not exhaustive. Other documented, evidence-based programs that address the epidemic also qualify. In either case the money must add to local spending, not replace it.
The Town appropriates the money in account 02-213-41-661-001. Five sub-accounts, 02-213-41-661-002 through 02-213-41-661-006, held 68,297.05 until journal GJ 47 combined them into it on 01/01/2024. None of the six ever paid a salary or wage. Through 08/28/2026 the account was appropriated 313,451.73, paid 313,451.73 and closed at 0.00.
This project classes all 313,451.73 as conforming. The findings are about what the Town told the State. Read the Town's findings.
What the Town spent
Every payment from the account went to Morris County Prevention Is Key Inc on purchase order 46117, contract R2025-34.
| Date | Check | Invoice | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06/25/2025 | 2701 | 2721 | 87,212.00 |
| 08/27/2025 | 3198 | 2798 | 77,639.47 |
| 12/10/2025 | 3952 | 2850 | 94,661.60 |
| 05/04/2026 | 4945 | 2950 | 53,938.66 |
| Total | 313,451.73 |
Check 4584 first paid invoice 2950 on 03/10/2026. It was voided as lost on 05/04/2026 and reissued the same day as check 4945. It is counted once.
The order opened at 251,700.00 on 06/11/2025. It rose by 34,300.00 on 09/16/2025 and by 27,451.73 under Change Order 1 on 11/13/2025, to 313,451.73.
The FY2025 report describes the program as intensive case management using peer support, for people involved with the criminal justice system, people who use drugs and people experiencing homelessness. It reports 55 participants, 51 referrals to treatment and 24 harm reduction kits including naloxone. Exhibit E of the national settlements names LEAD among its diversion uses.
The Town's vendor record covers every vendor and every fund from 01/01/2018 to 08/28/2026. It shows no payment to Prevention Is Key before 06/25/2025. The settlement money did not replace an existing Town payment to this provider. Every settlement dollar paid went to the LEAD provider.
The ledger describes each payment as Opioid Funds Administration. The contract and the invoices were not produced, so what each invoice billed is not in the record.
What the Town told the State
Each town with a direct share files an annual report with the Department of Human Services. The State's fiscal year runs 07/01 to 06/30.
| Report | Certified spent | Paid from the account in the year |
|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2024 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| FY2025 | 298,882.00 | 87,212.00 |
| FY2026 | 61,541.19 | 226,239.73 |
| Total | 360,423.19 | 313,451.73 |
The FY2023 and FY2024 spending figures are accurate. No money left the account before 06/25/2025. Both zero certifications match the books.
The FY2024 report certifies 234,317.28 received since 2022, nothing spent, nothing encumbered and 232,231.63 on hand. With nothing spent, the money on hand should equal the money received. It is 2,085.65 lower. The 232,231.63 is the account's balance after GJ 165 added 37,729.40 on 08/14/2024, after the period closed. On 06/30/2024 the account held 194,502.23. Certified 2,085.65 less on hand than received, none spent.
The FY2024 report says the Town entered into a shared service agreement with the Firth Youth Center to run programs. No settlement payment to the Firth Youth Center appears.
FY2025
The FY2025 report covers 07/01/2024 to 06/30/2025. It certifies 298,882.00 expended. The account paid one check in that period, 87,212.00 on 06/25/2025.
The certified figure has two parts.
| Record | Amount |
|---|---|
| LEAD program, certified expended | 164,851.00 |
| Administrative expense, certified | 134,031.00 |
| Certified expended, FY2025 | 298,882.00 |
| Paid in the period | 87,212.00 |
| Difference | 211,670.00 |
The program figure is the first two checks, 87,212.00 and 77,639.47, which total 164,851.47. The report drops the 0.47. The second check is dated 08/27/2025, after the period closed. Certified 298,882.00 spent in FY2025 and paid 87,212.00.
The report describes the 134,031.00 as "Personnel expense used to run the programs." The program figure already counts every check the account had paid. The account carries no payroll line. No payment or group of payments on it matches 134,031.00. The report's own figures do not add up. It certifies 298,882.00 spent and 145,353.62 encumbered, 444,235.62 in all, against 310,204.62 received since 2022. The excess is 134,031.00, the administrative figure. Added 134,031.00 of administration no payment matches.
The 145,353.62 encumbered figure is the 310,204.62 received less the 164,851.00 program figure, to the cent. On 06/30/2025 the books held 164,488.00 open on the order and 24.97 uncommitted, 164,512.97 appropriated and not yet spent. The program page gives a third figure. It certifies 286,000.00 of funding and 121,149.00 encumbered. The 286,000.00 is the order's total after it rose on 09/16/2025, after the period closed. Encumbrance figure is receipts less the program figure.
The same report certifies 0.00 on hand. Through 06/30/2025 the account had paid 87,212.00 of the 310,204.62 the report says the Town received. That leaves 222,992.62 unspent. After the second check on 08/27/2025, 145,353.15 was still unspent. Certified 0.00 on hand in FY2025 with 222,992.62 unspent.
FY2026
The State published the Town's FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026.
It certifies 61,541.19 received and 61,541.19 spent. Asked whether the Town funded any programs in the year, it answers No. The account paid Prevention Is Key 226,239.73 in the year, checks 3198, 3952 and 4945. The certified figure is 164,698.54 below the payments, and the report names no program for any of them. Certified 61,541.19 spent in FY2026 and paid 226,239.73.
The report also certifies 54,316.52 of administrative expense, described as Payroll Expenses. That leaves 7,224.67 of the 61,541.19 for anything else. The settlement account paid no salary or wage from 01/01/2022 to 08/28/2026. Its only charges in the year are the three Prevention Is Key checks, each labeled Opioid Funds Administration. None of them, alone or together, is 54,316.52. Payroll registers were not produced. Certified 54,316.52 of payroll no settlement payment shows.
The report certifies 0.00 on hand and 0.00 encumbered. The Town's four reports certify 371,745.81 received and 360,423.19 spent. By their own figures 11,322.62 remains. The account was appropriated and paid 313,451.73, which is 58,294.08 less than the certified receipts. Certified 0.00 on hand in FY2026, its figures say 11,322.62.
Read together, the FY2025 and FY2026 reports certify 360,423.19 spent. The account paid 313,451.73. FY2025 is 211,670.00 too high and FY2026 is 164,698.54 too low.
What the records do not show
- Contract R2025-34, Change Order 1 and invoices 2721, 2798, 2850 and 2950.
- How the Town arrived at 298,882.00, 134,031.00, 145,353.62 and 0.00 on hand in FY2025, 232,231.63 on hand in FY2024, and 61,541.19, 54,316.52 and 0.00 on hand in FY2026.
- The revenue account that received the settlement money. The Town's vendor record shows a 5,052.95 entry captioned National Opioid Settlement on account 01-214-40-000-033 on 06/03/2025. That account's activity was not produced.
- Payroll registers.
What should happen
The spending went to a program the settlements name. The reports describe it with figures the books do not support. The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services should ask the Town how each certified figure was derived and what records support it.
How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.