South River

Summary

The Borough of South River, Middlesex County, reported 73,796.96 in opioid settlement money received through 06/30/2025. The money must go to opioid abatement. Exhibit E Schedule B of the national settlements lists the uses.

Through 06/30/2025 the Borough spent it on prevention. A drug education presentation at the middle school, an impaired driving program and a Fatal Vision impairment kit came to 9,805.00. A 730.00 display order brought the total to 10,535.00. Its FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025 reports to the Department of Human Services match the Borough's audit trail to the cent. See the reports match the books.

In the next reporting year the spending changed. The Borough paid 33,722.95 for a police trailer and 6,629.60 for a camera to go on it. The Borough's books call them a message board trailer and a camera and internet message board. The vendor invoices show an ALPR-ready trailer with a surveillance ready telescoping mast and a Verkada two-camera unit with a cellular gateway. The record ties no opioid program to either, and neither is among the uses Exhibit E lists. Together they are 40,352.55, or 79 percent of the 50,887.55 the opioid accounts paid through 08/31/2026. Both purchases fall in the reporting year that ended 06/30/2026. The FY2026 report, published 10/01/2026, certifies 41,082.55 spent that year, which ties to the books. It answers No when asked whether the Borough funded any program and never describes the trailer or the camera. See the FY2026 report finding.

This project's grade for South River is on the South River page. Every figure below comes from the Borough's reports to the State, its Budget Account Status and Transaction Audit Trail printed 05/28/2026, and the vendor histories, invoices and checks it produced on 09/23/2026. All are posted on the South River page.

What the Borough told the State

The FY2023 report lists 17,725.78 received and 0.00 expended. The audit trail shows no payment in that window.

The FY2024 report lists 53,085.74 received since 2022 and 4,950.00 expended on two programs. It's Tough to be a Kid Now Days, 2,100.00, is a presentation to middle school students on drug use. Arrive Alive Tour, 2,850.00, teaches high school students about impaired driving. The report lists 48,135.74 unspent on hand. That is 53,085.74 less 4,950.00.

The FY2025 report lists 73,796.96 received since 2022, 4,855.00 expended on a Fatal Vision Impairment Education Kit and 730.00 encumbered. It lists 63,261.96 unspent on hand. That is 73,796.96 less 4,950.00, 4,855.00 and 730.00.

Each report answers that the Borough has no strategic plan and did not engage the public before deciding how to use the money. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports say the Police Department chose the programs.

How the reports match the books

• Reported: 10,535.00
• Paid, per the audit trail: 10,535.00

Purchase order 25-01475 bought a banner backdrop, a telescope stand kit and a custom design from a printing vendor, 275.00, 405.00 and 50.00. It was encumbered 05/21/2025 and paid after the year closed, as the FY2025 report said it would be. See the reconciliations.

What the Borough bought next

• Paid for the trailer and its camera: 40,352.55
• Paid, all opioid accounts, through 08/31/2026: 50,887.55
• Share not among the uses Exhibit E lists: 79 percent

The trailer order was first encumbered 10/22/2025. The audit trail describes it as MESSAGE BOARD TRAILER-POLICE. The vendor's invoice SIN047022 of 11/26/2025 lists three items. An ATS-5 380 ALPR-ready trailer bundle with a SpeedAlert 24 display, solar power, data collection and pictures, 25,472.95. A surveillance ready telescoping mast, 7,500.00. Anti-vandal wiring for the ALPR trailer, 750.00. The purchase order ships it to the police department. The invoice shows a trailer ready for a license plate reader. It does not show that a reader was installed. Check 74496 paid it on 12/16/2025. On 03/19/2026 that check was voided and check 75206 paid the same amount the same day. The trailer was paid once. See the trailer finding.

The camera order was first encumbered 11/05/2025. The audit trail calls it CAMERA and INTERNET MESSAGE BOARD. Eastern Datacomm's invoice 193452 bills it as "Police Department - Remote trailer Verkada trailer." It lists a Verkada two-camera multisensor, a Verkada outdoor cellular gateway, 5-year licenses for both, mounts and four hours to set up the camera, the gateway and the Verkada portal. One check paid it from two opioid accounts. Each line took its account to a zero balance. See the camera finding.

Account 5-01-99-300-227 began 2025 with 44,551.69. After these payments it printed 0.00. The audit trail from 03/01/2026 to 08/31/2026 shows no new charge on either opioid account.

Who paid for this before

The police already used All Traffic Solutions. From 2018 to 2025 the police budget paid the vendor 12,692.24. That is a 1,500.00 Traffic Suite subscription every year from the police contractual maintenance line, a battery from the police new equipment line in 2023, and repairs to a police sign trailer from the police vehicle maintenance line in April 2025. On 10/22/2025, six months after that repair was paid, the Borough ordered a new trailer from the same vendor on the opioid account.

The Borough pays for its other camera systems from capital ordinances, park lines and a state grant. Check 75118 paid the opioid camera together with a Verkada viewing station for police dispatch, 2,008.38, charged to the police capital account. The camera on the police trailer is the only camera paid from opioid money.

On 12/31/2025 journal reference 29673 moved the unspent balance of account 5-01-41-811-201, 16,436.97, to the grant fund. The audit trail describes it as TRANSFER UNEXPENDED BALANCE TO GRANT FD and types it as an expenditure. No vendor was paid. It returns an unspent appropriation and is not spending. The receiving grant fund line was not produced.

What the law allows

Exhibit E Schedule B lists uses for the money. They cover treatment, recovery support, connection to care and prevention. The list is not exhaustive. A use it does not name must be part of a documented, evidence-based program that mitigates the epidemic. Police traffic and surveillance equipment and cameras are not among the uses Exhibit E lists.

The record ties no opioid program to the trailer or the camera. The police budget paid the same vendor for its traffic trailer software and upkeep before the opioid money arrived. The FY2026 report answers that the Borough has no strategic plan and funded no program.

FY2026

The FY2026 report, published 10/01/2026, covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 87,835.26 received since 2022, 41,082.55 spent, 0.00 encumbered and 0.00 on administration. It gives the year's goals as prevention of overdose deaths and opioid awareness and education. It names the Police Department, the administration and the chief financial officer as the officials who decided. Asked whether the Borough funded any program, it answers No. It carries no program description at all.

The total ties to the cent. The 16,436.97 journal of 12/31/2025 that moved an unspent balance back to the grant fund is not spending, and the report correctly leaves it out.

The report states overdose prevention goals and says no program was funded. 40,352.55 of the 41,082.55, or 98.2 percent, bought a police surveillance trailer and a camera for it. The report never says so. The finding is FY2026 report never describes 40,352.55 of police gear. The purchases themselves are in the trailer finding and the camera finding.

What should happen

The Borough can restore the 40,352.55 to its opioid funds and spend it on a listed use.

How this project classifies spending is set out in the methodology and the rubric. Corrections follow the corrections policy.