Stafford Township

Summary

Stafford Township, Ocean County, reports 425,038.29 in opioid settlement money received through 06/30/2025. The money may be spent only on the opioid abatement uses listed in Exhibit E Schedule B of the national settlements.

The Township keeps the money in three accounts, G-01-41-023-774-200, G-01-41-024-774-200 and G-01-41-025-774-200. Through 05/28/2026 they have paid 357,098.62. That is 72,877.50 of police seasonal pay and overtime, 112,008.62 for two police Chevrolet Tahoes and 172,212.50 of special police wages. None of it went to a listed use or a documented abatement program.

The Township's FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports to the Department of Human Services describe one program, Class I's, as Primary Prevention, Education, and Training. Class I is the name of the Township's police seasonal officer payroll line.

The reports are false in these respects.

1. They certify police payroll and police vehicles as prevention.
2. The FY2025 report certifies 153,656.58 spent and 0.00 unspent. The only payment that year was 112,008.62 for the Tahoes.
3. The FY2024 report certifies 172,111.30 encumbered. No purchase order was open on any opioid account at 06/30/2024.
4. The FY2026 report certifies 71,765.73 spent, the year's receipts to the cent. The opioid accounts paid 172,212.50 of special police wages that year.

Every figure in this report comes from the Township's own records. Sources are listed with each section. The full record is on the Stafford Township page.

How this report was prepared

The ledgers, journal, purchase orders, vendor reports, check and resolution were obtained from the Township under the Open Public Records Act. The reports to the State were obtained from the Department of Human Services. The ledgers run through 05/28/2026. The Township did not answer later requests for activity after that date or for any other opioid account.

The police pay journal

The first charge to any opioid account is journal 24776, posted 12/31/2023 under the description "Correct Charges to Opiod Grant." It charged 72,877.50 to account G-01-41-023-774-200. It credited two police lines of the current fund.

The seasonal Class I pay had already been paid from the current fund through 2023. After the journal, that line closed the year at 0.00 expended against a 187,200.00 appropriation. The same year the overtime line spent 672,250.82 of local money. The journal moved pay the current fund had already carried, and the FY2024 report certifies it as prevention. See the finding, the journal, the seasonal Class I account and the overtime account.

The journal is the only charge to any opioid account in the FY2024 reporting year. The pattern is described under year end salary reclass.

The police Tahoes

Purchase order 24-03379 bought six 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe police pursuit vehicles from Mark Anthony Chevrolet at 55,477.56 each. Purchase order 24-03656 bought a seventh Tahoe for 56,531.06.

Check 25476, dated 06/17/2025, paid the two opioid charges together, 112,008.62. The police capital account paid for five of the same vehicle at the same price on the same order. The Township charged the sixth to the opioid fund. See the finding, purchase order 24-03379, purchase order 24-03656, check 25476 and the Mark Anthony Chevrolet vendor report.

On 10/11/2024 the Township also encumbered 30,383.49 on the opioid account for purchase order 24-04670, Elite Vehicle Solutions, to outfit one patrol Tahoe. The ledger marks that encumbrance deleted. The Elite vendor report shows both paid lines of the order, 151,917.45 and 21,413.93, charged to police capital. No opioid money paid for the outfitting. See the finding and the Elite vendor report.

The special police wages

Resolution 2025-268, adopted 07/15/2025, hires Special Police Officers Class II at 23.00 an hour. Five of the six hires carry the position title Special Police Officer Class II, Part Time, Opioid Settlement. See the resolution.

From 09/19/2025 the opioid accounts carry biweekly charges titled Gross Pay/ER FICA.

The 2024 account had 232,577.17 appropriated. The Tahoes and the wages spent all of it. No record describes opioid abatement duties for the officers, and no program using them is documented. Police payroll is not among the uses Exhibit E lists. These charges fall in the FY2026 reporting year. The FY2026 report does not mention police wages. It certifies 71,765.73 spent on the Class I's education program. See the finding, the 2024 account and the 2025 account.

What the Township told the State

Each town with a direct share files an annual report with the Department of Human Services.

The FY2023 report certifies 90,616.61 received and 0.00 expended through 06/30/2023. The books agree. See the FY2023 report.

The FY2024 and FY2025 reports each describe one program, Class I's. They give its primary problem as "Opioids in the Parks/Playgrounds." They describe it as a program "to educate the public and provide a presence in the parks/playgrounds for opioid education and outreach." They list its category as Primary Prevention, Education, and Training and its launch date as 01/02/2023. They say it will reach 5,000 people a year.

The FY2025 report says the year's funding "would be utilized to provide the salaries and equipment for those officers in that program." In the Township's ledger Class I is Police Dept Seasonal Class I, account 25-240-240-120, a police payroll line funded at 90,000.00 in 2022. Through 06/30/2025 the opioid accounts paid 72,877.50 of police seasonal pay and overtime and 112,008.62 of police Tahoes, 184,886.12 in all. No prevention program using the pay or the vehicles is documented. Police payroll and police vehicles are not among the prevention uses Exhibit E lists. See the finding, the FY2024 report and the FY2025 report.

The FY2025 report

Receipts to date were 425,038.29. Less the journal, 72,877.50, and the Tahoes, 112,008.62, that leaves 240,152.17 of opioid money on the books at 06/30/2025. The report certifies 0.00. See the finding.

The FY2024 report

The unspent figure is receipts less the one charge on the books, to the cent. The same report certifies 174,825.07 expended and 172,111.30 encumbered. Those two sum to 346,936.37, which is 75,554.66 more than the Township had received in total. See the finding.

The 172,111.30 encumbered figure is the same number the report gives as the program's amount expended. None of the three opioid accounts shows an open purchase order at 06/30/2024. The first opioid encumbrances are purchase order 24-03656 on 08/14/2024, 24-03379 on 08/22/2024 and 24-04670 on 10/11/2024. See the finding and the 2022 account.

FY2026

The State published the FY2026 report on 10/01/2026. It again describes one program, Class I's, now entered as a new Primary Prevention, Education, and Training program funded 06/01/2026. It describes the program as public education and "a presence in the parks/playgrounds for opioid education and outreach" and counts 5,000 people served.

For the second year running the certified spending equals the certified receipts. Every wage posting ends in .00 or .50 except two 629.95 adjustment legs, so no set of them can sum to 71,765.73. The report does not say the money paid police wages. A public education program is not police payroll. The ledger production ends 05/28/2026, so any June 2026 charges to the opioid accounts are not in the record. See the finding and the special police wages finding.

The seasonal police budget

This section is analysis.

The Police Dept Seasonal Class I appropriation fell from 190,000.00 in 2024 to 66,560.00 in 2025, a cut of 123,440.00. In 2025 the line averaged 3,050.35 a pay period through 09/05/2025 and 742.00 a period from 09/19/2025. 09/19/2025 is the first date the opioid account carries special police pay. No document states that the cut was made because the payroll moved to the opioid accounts. See the finding, the 2024 seasonal line and the 2025 seasonal line.

What should happen

The opioid accounts have paid 357,098.62 for police pay and police vehicles. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports certify the first 184,886.12 as prevention. The FY2026 report certifies 71,765.73 as the same prevention program while the accounts paid 172,212.50 of police wages. No abatement program using any of it is documented. The Township can restore that money from its current and capital funds and spend it on a listed purpose.

The Township should stop charging special police wages to the opioid accounts.

The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2024, FY2025 and FY2026 reports and the records behind them.

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