Sparta Township
Sparta Township left 18,043.45 of settlement spending out of its reports to the State, certified event food and an AED purchase under program labels that do not describe them, and moved police and alliance costs onto the fund.
Published 09/25/2026 · Updated 10/03/2026
TLDR
- Sparta Township's reserve for opioid settlement money paid out 55,506.63 through 06/30/2025. Its three reports to the State certify 37,463.18. The other 18,043.45 appears in no report.
- In FY2023 and FY2024 the certified figure equals every purchase order payment to the cent. The only thing left out each year is the LEAD Day food bought on the Township purchasing card.
- The FY2024 report certifies more unspent money than the Township says it ever received. The figure is the account balance on 08/09/2024, not on 06/30/2024.
- The Township certified a first responder night as Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. The fund paid for food, candy, crafts, a Batman appearance and ice cream.
- It certified 4,237.14 as Basic Police Academy Training. 2,712.14 of it is AED hardware. No academy tuition was paid that year.
- The FY2026 report certifies 37,546.45 spent. The reserve paid 31,428.00 that year. Two program updates certify 8,618.45 against one 2,500.00 payment.
Of 93,213.39 paid from the reserve through 08/25/2026, 15,030.00 went to a use Exhibit E lists.
Summary
Sparta Township, Sussex County, reported receiving 174,306.17 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2025. Its reserve account took in 84,966.61 more in settlement receipts by 08/25/2026. The money must go to the uses Exhibit E of the national settlements lists, or to documented, evidence-based programs that address the opioid epidemic. The listed uses cover treatment, recovery, connection to care, prevention and harm reduction. The money has to add to what a town already spends, not replace it.
The Township keeps the money in account 03-296-56-000-006, Reserve for Opioids. The account activity print and a second print show 93,213.39 paid and 4,976.35 open through 08/25/2026.
| Classification | Paid |
|---|---|
| A listed use | 15,030.00 |
| Mislabeled, replacing other funding, or no documented program | 46,481.48 |
| Not documented either way | 31,701.91 |
| Paid through 08/25/2026 | 93,213.39 |
The listed uses are a harm reduction vending machine, prevention sessions at a school the Township had not paid for before, and a course registration for the police chief that the FY2025 report describes as operational readiness for opioid use disorders. Most of the rest is event food, police training, defibrillators, and programs the Township paid for from other budgets before the settlement money arrived. Read the Township's findings.
What the reports left out
The FY2025 report certifies 174,306.17 received since 2022 and 118,799.54 unspent on hand. The difference is 55,506.63. That is exactly what the reserve paid through 06/30/2025.
| Year | Paid from the reserve | Certified expended | Left out |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2023 | 7,160.60 | 5,764.60 | 1,396.00 |
| FY2024 | 17,442.64 | 13,136.19 | 4,306.45 |
| FY2025 | 30,903.39 | 18,562.39 | 12,341.00 |
| Total | 55,506.63 | 37,463.18 | 18,043.45 |
The Township's own receipts and balance show the money left the account. Its expended figures account for 37,463.18 of it. Left 18,043.45 of spending out of its State reports.
In the first two years the gap has one source. The FY2023 report and the FY2024 report each certify every purchase order payment from the reserve to the cent. What they leave out is the LEAD Day food charged to the Township purchasing card. That is 996.00 at Sparta Dairy and 400.00 at Villa Capri in 2023. In 2024 it is 4,306.45 of card charges, including 1,860.32 of pizza and 1,678.83 of ice cream. Certified every payment except the LEAD Day food.
In FY2025 two payments appear in no program figure. Starhouse Media was paid 8,500.00 for 36 month movie access under a contract marked COUNTY OPIOID G. A shirt order was paid 3,842.00. Together they are 12,342.00, 1.00 more than the gap.
The FY2024 report has a different problem. It certifies 134,682.47 received since 2022 and 135,872.76 unspent on hand, 1,190.29 more than the Township received. 135,872.76 is the balance the account printed on 08/09/2024, after four settlement receipts that arrived in the next fiscal year. On 06/26/2024, the last entry of FY2024, the balance was 110,007.07. Reported an August balance as its year-end unspent funds.
The same report certifies 227.84 encumbered at year end. One order was open that day, 72.16 of storage totes. Certified a 227.84 encumbrance the books do not show.
Hanging with Heroes
The FY2024 report certifies a program named Hanging with Heroes at 4,797.76. Its primary category is Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention. The report calls it "a night open to the community to spend with first responders, geared towards youth with activities." It says vendors such as the Center for Prevention and the municipal alliance bring opioid information and naloxone kits. The FY2025 report certifies 4,482.25 more.
The reserve payments that name the event total 6,445.55.
| Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|
| Restaurant supply, meat market and farm purchases, October 2023 | 1,543.50 |
| Batman appearance, October 2023 | 500.00 |
| Supplies and kid crafts, 2023 | 277.86 |
| Barbecue supplies, October 2024 | 1,257.67 |
| Ice cream, October 2024 | 1,439.00 |
| Food, cookies, juice boxes and card supplies, 2024 | 1,427.52 |
| Total | 6,445.55 |
No naloxone, test strip or other harm reduction supply was paid from the reserve through 06/30/2025. Certified event food and ice cream as harm reduction.
The academy training figure
The FY2025 report certifies 4,237.14 for Basic Police Academy Training. It describes training for two officers, one in narcotics and one in operational readiness for opioid use disorders, and "training CPR instructors and equipment." Four payments make the figure to the cent. Other combinations of FY2025 payments also make 4,237.14. This is the only one that matches the report's description.
| Payee | Purchase | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Cardio Partners | DT AEDs per quote Q1073527 | 2,712.14 |
| Lifesavers | Registration for two officers | 975.00 |
| N.J. Narcotic Enforcement Officers | Registration for one officer | 100.00 |
| Zschool | Registration for the police chief | 450.00 |
| Total | 4,237.14 |
No academy tuition was paid from the reserve in FY2025. Most of the figure is defibrillator hardware. Certified AED hardware as police academy training.
The Township buys AEDs and CPR training from other accounts. The Lifesavers vendor history shows Defibtech AED packages bought from capital accounts in 2018, 2019 and 2023, 18,309.40 in all, and AED pads and batteries bought from current fund accounts from 2018 to 2026. The police training account pays for AHA BLS card processing. Paid for AEDs and CPR training it buys from other accounts.
Costs moved from other budgets
Settlement money is meant to add to what a town already spends, not replace it. Sparta's own records show three cost families that other budgets paid for before the fund did.
Police recruit tuition. From 04/12/2023 to 03/13/2024 the reserve paid the Passaic County Police Academy 5,155.00 for five recruits' tuition and two sets of processing, drug testing and CPR fees. The academy's vendor history shows the current fund paying the same academy for in-service courses before that window and for recruits after it. The police training account print shows 2,510.00 of recruit tuition on 05/28/2025. One check on 12/14/2023 paid the academy from both funds. Paid police recruit academy tuition from the fund.
LEAD Day. The graduation event for the police Law Enforcement Against Drugs class ran on the municipal alliance State Share account in 2019 and 2022. From 2023 the reserve paid 14,454.95 for its shirts, food and a dunk tank. In June 2026 the Township took the 1,150.00 pizza order off the reserve and paid it from the alliance grant account. The 3,000.00 shirt order for the same event stayed on the reserve. Moved LEAD Day food and shirts onto the settlement fund.
School prevention sessions. The Center for Prevention and Counseling has run sessions at Sparta High School and Sparta Middle School since at least 2022. The provider's vendor history shows the alliance paying for the high school sessions through 2024 and the middle school sessions through 2025. The reserve then paid 8,000.00 for the same sessions in 2025 and 2026. The alliance State Share account showed 55,796.84 unspent on 08/28/2026. School prevention is a listed use. The question is whose money paid for it. Moved school prevention sessions off the alliance grant.
The food pantry
The reserve has paid the Sparta Community Food Pantry 3,000.00 a year since 2023, 9,000.00 in all. The pantry's vendor history shows no other payment from any account since 2018. The reports certify it as Community Food Pantry Support under Connections to Care and name the Sparta Municipal Alliance as the recipient. The checks went to the pantry. No record shows the pantry serves people with opioid use disorder or people in recovery. Reported food pantry gifts as connections to care.
What the fund bought that fits
On 06/25/2026 the reserve paid 12,080.00 for a harm reduction vending machine with a year of software and cellular service. The FY2024 report had said the Township was looking for one to hand out naloxone and fentanyl test strips. Bought a harm reduction vending machine for 12,080.00. The FY2026 report certifies the machine as Harm Reduction (Vending Machine) at 12,369.77. That is the 12,080.00 plus 289.77 of conduit, cables and breakers paid the same day, to the cent. The reserve also paid 2,500.00 for prevention sessions at Sussex Tech High School and 450.00 for a police chief course the FY2025 report describes as operational readiness for opioid use disorders.
FY2026
The FY2026 report, published 10/01/2026, covers 07/01/2025 to 06/30/2026. It certifies 48,538.37 received, 37,546.45 spent, nothing encumbered and 147,834.91 unspent on hand. The reserve paid 31,428.00 in the year.
Five of the report's program figures match the year's payments to the cent. They are Fatal Vision equipment 10,314.36, the vending machine 12,369.77, sponsorships 2,200.00, the food pantry 3,000.00 and an update to Basic Police Academy Training 1,043.87. The food pantry's third 3,000.00 is certified again as Community Food Pantry Support. Reported food pantry gifts as connections to care.
The other two figures do not match. The Municipal Alliance update certifies 6,277.45 and says it supplements the Peer Rx program. The only payment left for it is 2,500.00 for Sparta High School sessions. No Peer Rx payment appears. Certified 6,277.45 for the alliance against 2,500.00 paid. The Law Enforcement Against Drugs update certifies 2,341.00. The reserve paid nothing for LEAD in the year. The LEAD Day shirts were paid on 07/21/2026. Certified 2,341.00 of LEAD spending with none paid.
The spending figure is 6,118.45 above the books. It equals the receipts the report certifies since 2022, less the unspent funds it certifies, less everything the three earlier reports certified. The excess is the 18,043.45 those reports left out, less 11,925.00 of other money the reserve took in during the year. Certified 6,118.45 more FY2026 spending than it paid.
The report certifies nothing encumbered. On 06/30/2026 five orders worth 6,778.76 were open, including the LEAD Day shirts. Certified no open orders while 6,778.76 was committed.
What should happen
The State relies on these reports to see where the money went. Sparta's reports leave out 18,043.45 that its own receipts and balance show was spent. They certify food, ice cream and an AED purchase under program labels that describe something else.
The Township can restore to the fund the 46,481.48 spent on event food and equipment, recruit tuition, defibrillators, CPR training and programs other budgets already paid for, and spend it on a listed use or a documented, evidence-based program that addresses the epidemic. It can return the LEAD Day and school session costs to the budgets that carried them before.
The Department of Human Services should examine the four 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.