Washington Township

Summary

Washington Township, Gloucester County, has received 479,902.80 in opioid settlement money through 06/30/2025, by its own reports. The money may be spent only on the opioid abatement uses listed in the national settlements.

The Township's dedicated opioid account has paid 267,924.50. All of it went to two police Chevrolet Tahoes, the equipment installed in them, and Flock license plate readers. Nothing went to treatment, recovery, prevention or naloxone.

The Township then told the State something else. Its FY2024 and FY2025 reports to the Department of Human Services assign 134,321.38 and 36,125.32 to a program named Drug Education, described as a school-based program for 500 children. Together that is 170,446.70. The account's only payments through 06/30/2025 were 117,946.70 for the Tahoes, 17,500.00 for five readers and 35,000.00 for ten readers. Together that is 170,446.70. The two totals are equal to the cent.

The reports are false in three respects.

1. They report 134,321.38 spent in the year ending 06/30/2024. The opioid account did not exist until 10/09/2024 and made no payment until 11/26/2024.
2. They describe a school drug education program. The account has never paid a drug education provider. Asked for the program's contract, launch records, payment records and the workpapers behind the reports, the Township answered each time that it had no responsive documents.
3. They report 0.00 unspent. The account's own printed balance at 06/30/2025 was 90,027.28.

The Township filed each report late, and only after the Office of the State Comptroller wrote to ask where it was. The Township's emails show the Chief of Police proposing the purchases, the Business Administrator approving them, and the Chief Financial Officer certifying the money and directing a police invoice to "the opioid grant." The same emails show the CFO calling the next settlement a "grant for Pat's stuff." Patrick Gurcsik is the Chief of Police.

Every figure in this report comes from the Township's own records. Sources are listed with each section.

How this report was prepared

The ledger, purchase orders, resolutions, contracts and reports to the State were obtained from the Township and the State under the Open Public Records Act. Those records are posted on the Washington Township page. The Township refused to search three officials' email accounts. In July 2026 a Superior Court judge ruled that the refusal violated the Act and ordered the emails produced. The Township produced them on 09/14/2026 and withheld 953 others. The emails quoted below come from that production and from the Township's earlier production of its correspondence with Flock. They are not posted here because of their size.

CFO is Chief Financial Officer Colette Bachich. BA is Business Administrator Joseph Russo. Chief is Chief of Police Patrick Gurcsik.

What the Township bought

The Township opened a dedicated account, G-02-41-706-000-730, National Opioid Settlement, on 10/09/2024. From 10/09/2024 to 08/12/2026 the council adopted seven Chapter 159 resolutions inserting 449,634.44 of settlement revenue. The ledger posts the first, R262-2024, at 237,378.48, 0.03 more than the resolution's title and appropriation clause. Its revenue clause reads 237,738.45. The council passed five of them 5 to 0. R294-2025 and R206-2026 passed 4 to 0 with one member absent. R179-2026 appropriates its 4,776.32 under the caption New Jersey Historical Commission, although its title and revenue clause name the national opioid settlements.

The charges come from the Township's Budget Detail Inquiry printed 03/18/2026 and its Budget Transaction Audit Trail through 08/19/2026.

• Paid, all payees: 267,924.50
• Police vehicles and upfit: 173,424.50
• Flock license plate readers: 94,500.00
• Paid under a council award: 152,946.70
• Paid with no council award: 114,977.80
• Paid to an approved abatement use: 0.00

The opioid account bought fifteen new readers, five on purchase order 25-00204 and ten on 25-01370. The later Flock charges are renewals and extended data retention. The upfit quote lists lights, sirens, consoles, a weapon drawer, a prisoner partition and window tint, at 27,738.90 per vehicle. The upfit purchase order types "RESOLUTION R301-2024" on its line item. R301-2024 awards only the purchase of the two Tahoes and says nothing about upfit. The upfit, four of the five Flock checks and the open Flock order have no council award. The account held 174,709.97 at 08/19/2026, after the open order. The full ledger is on the Washington Township page.

The last insertion, R206-2026 for 68,968.25, was adopted 08/12/2026. The open Flock order posted the next day.

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 names Colette Bachich as the person authorized to report on the funds. It lists NA for money expended. None of the three reports carries a certification statement or a signature. The FY2024 and FY2025 reports name no individual.

The FY2024 report was due 09/01/2024. On 10/01/2024 the Governor's Office told the Mayor the State had no report, and the BA asked the CFO when it would be submitted. The Township first filed on 10/04/2024, 33 days late. The State's confirmation went to the CFO's Township address. The State wrote to her 45 minutes later. "Thank you for submitting the Opioid Settlement Report for Washington Township." The State quoted the filing's figures, 326,068.36 received and 218,967.58 unspent. It wrote that the two were not equal "considering that the township has not spent any funds." It asked her to confirm the figures or submit the report again. No Township answer appears in the records.

The opioid account opened five days later, on 10/09/2024, with 237,378.48 appropriated. On 11/26/2024 the council adopted R301-2024. It also adopted R285-2024, adding 23,095.50. The account paid 117,946.70 for the Tahoes that day, and its appropriations stood at 260,473.98. Purchase orders for the upfit and the five readers followed on 12/02/2024 and 01/16/2025.

On 02/11/2025 the Office of the State Comptroller emailed the Mayor. The subject line reads "Information Request - Failure to Submit Required Opioid Abatement Report." The email attached a letter and set a response date of 02/18/2025. The BA forwarded it to the CFO that afternoon.

Three days later, on 02/14/2025 at 12:28 PM, the State confirmed a second FY2024 submission to the CFO's address. At 12:47 PM the CFO wrote to the Comptroller's office. "We are in receipt of a letter sent to us by the Office of the State Comptroller regarding Opioid Abatement reporting. I just wanted to notify you that we have submitted our report through the DHS reporting portal. Apologies for delay."

That report lists 394,795.36 received since 2022, 68,727.00 more than the first filing. It reports 134,321.38 spent on a program named Drug Education in the year ending 06/30/2024 and 0.00 unspent. It names the Washington Township Police Department as the recipient. It describes a "School-based narcotics and education program" for 500 participants, ages 0 to 13 through eighth grade. It says the program was funded and launched 09/18/2023 with a disbursement of "One time only" for one year. It reports results. "Evaluations show that participants have a significantly increased awareness of the negative consequences of opioid use." "Many students report a more positive perception of law enforcement." It says "an existing program was enhanced" and that the Township "collaborated with the Chief of Police to determine the most effective method to administer programs."

The account did not exist until 10/09/2024. It made no payment before 11/26/2024. The first filing, four months earlier, had reported no spending for the same year.

The FY2025 report was due 09/01/2025. The State sent past due notices on 09/02, 09/04, 09/08, 09/10 and 09/15/2025. On 09/17/2025 the Comptroller's office emailed the BA. The subject line reads "Information Request - Overdue Annual Opioid Abatement Report for Fiscal Year 2025." It set a response date of 09/26/2025. On 09/22/2025 at 9:16 AM the BA forwarded it to the CFO with four words. "Can we do this today?" The State confirmed the FY2025 submission to the CFO's address at 3:04 PM. At 4:04 PM the BA wrote to the Comptroller's office. "The report was submitted today."

The FY2025 report adds 36,125.32 to Drug Education and says the program had "No modifications/expansions." It says "Our strategic plan" helps "disrupt the cycle of addiction-related crime" through "early identification and response to individuals involved in substance-driven criminal activity." Three questions later the same report answers that the Township has no strategic plan. It reports 0.00 unspent.

No record shows a payment to the program, a payee, workpapers behind the reports or the program's launch. Nothing in the records explains the 09/18/2023 date.

The Municipal Alliance Program is a grant program of the Governor's Council on Substance Use Disorder, run through the County. It is the usual channel for municipal drug prevention money. On 05/12/2025 the County wrote that it must de-obligate the Township's alliance funds for the year ending 06/30/2025. The letter says the Township "was unable to complete its Municipal Alliance Plan within the required timeframe." That is the same fiscal year the FY2025 report assigned 36,125.32 to Drug Education.

How the reported figures match the account

The arithmetic below uses the reports' own figures and the account's Budget Detail Inquiry.

The two Drug Education figures together equal checks 77776, 78643 and 78887, to the cent. Those are the only payments from the account through 06/30/2025. The FY2025 figure, 36,125.32, is 170,446.70 less the FY2024 figure.

The FY2024 report's receipts less its Drug Education figure equal the money appropriated into the opioid account on the day the report was resubmitted, to the cent. The FY2024 figure is the number that makes the Township's receipts balance to its own books. It is not the total of any set of payments.

The FY2024 and FY2025 reports say 0.00 was unspent on hand and 0.00 was appropriated or encumbered but not yet spent. On the FY2024 report's own figures, 394,795.36 received less 134,321.38 spent leaves 260,473.98 at 06/30/2024. The FY2025 report lists 479,902.80 received since 2022. That figure less the 170,446.70 the two reports call spent leaves 309,456.10 at 06/30/2025. The account's printed running balance that day was 90,027.28. Purchase order 24-04618, 55,477.80 for the upfit, was still open against the account that day. The account paid it on 08/13/2025.

Who handled the money and the reports

The records do not show who typed the figures into the State's portal. They show what each official did.

The Chief of Police

Patrick Gurcsik proposed the purchases. At the 09/09/2026 council meeting he described it as "when we proposed using the funds for license plate readers." The emails agree. On 11/18/2024 he wrote to his administrative secretary, "We are purchasing 5 more from The opioid fund. Did we start a PO request yet?" On 04/19/2025 he wrote to the BA, "I'd like to formally request approval to use opioid settlement funds allocated for 2025 toward the purchase and installation of additional FLOCK License Plate Readers". His signature is on the officer's certification of the upfit purchase order and of Flock purchase order 26-01067.

He also supplied content for the report to the State. On 07/15/2025 he sent the BA a file named Opioid Report.doc. "Attached is the information you requested. Let me know if I can assist on any sections of the annual funding report." On 09/11/2025, eleven days before the FY2025 report was filed, he sent the same file name to the CFO under the subject "Opioid Funds." He added, "In addition we also purchased 'Straight TO Treatment' magnets for the two Chevrolet vehicles." The Township has not produced the attachment. No magnet purchase appears on the opioid ledger.

The Business Administrator

Joseph Russo approved the purchases and signed the contracts. He signed the Flock order form for five readers on 12/09/2024 with the purchase order listed as pending and no council award. On 04/21/2025 he approved the Chief's request in writing. "After our discussion on future funding of this project I am good with this proposal." He signed the ten-reader order form on 04/23/2025.

He handled both Comptroller letters. He forwarded each to the CFO and told the Comptroller's office on 09/22/2025 that the report was submitted that day. On 07/23/2025 he wrote to the Chief that the report posted online "has our info in it that we filled out last year. But I will keep the info you sent to utilize on future funding reporting."

On 03/17/2026 he answered the author of this report, who had asked how the funding source was chosen. "While the use of available funds is largely discretionary within the program, I can share with you that the request for this particular item originated with the Police Department." The Township's index of withheld emails logs a request from him to the Township's records counsel on 03/16/2026 for advice on "responding to an external inquiry," and counsel's reply at 7:05 AM on 03/17/2026. His answer went out at 9:25 AM.

The Chief Financial Officer

Colette Bachich certified the money. Her printed name and title sit under the certification of available funds on the resolutions below. On the Township's purchase orders the approval line is printed with the title Chief Financial Officer and no name. Resolution dates are adoption dates. Purchase order dates are order dates. None of the signatures is dated.

R301-2024 recites that the Chief Financial Officer "has certified that funds are available in the 2024 Budget line item #G-02-41-706-000-730, entitled National Opioid Settlement Grant." R117-2025 recites that she certified 35,000.00 available from the same line. She also signed the certification on five of the seven Chapter 159 resolutions that put settlement revenue into the budget.

She chose the account for at least one police invoice. On 01/08/2026 the Chief's administrative secretary asked her "what budget line can I use to pay this invoice?" Eleven minutes later she answered, "From the opioid grant G-02-41-706-000-730." Purchase order 26-00123 was encumbered that day.

She described the money as the police department's. On 07/07/2025 she asked the BA whether to join the next national settlement. "Do you want to proceed with the Opioid settlement participation - it is another set of monies and reporting (grant for Pat's stuff)."

She is the Township's named contact for the reports. The FY2023 report names her as the person authorized to report. The State's 10/04/2024 letter about the first FY2024 filing was addressed to her. Every submission confirmation in the records went to her Township address. She wrote to the Comptroller's office on 02/14/2025 that "we have submitted our report."

New Jersey rules set the chief financial officer's duties. Before the governing body authorizes a contract, the chief financial officer must certify in writing whether funds are available and name the budget line the contract will be charged to (N.J.A.C. 5:30-5.4(a)1). The rule says "Said officer shall be solely responsible for the accuracy of the certification." Delegating the duty does not relieve the officer of it (N.J.A.C. 5:30-5.3(a)). When a contract is a purchase order, the certification is made through the encumbrance entry (N.J.A.C. 5:30-5.4(a)4). The chief financial officer must ensure the proper and accurate preparation of reports pertaining to municipal finances (N.J.A.C. 5:32-2.1(a)3).

The council

The council voted 5 to 0 on R301-2024, the Tahoes, and 5 to 0 on R117-2025, the ten readers. Each resolution prints the funding source on its face as the National Opioid Settlement Grant. The upfit, the five-reader contract and every Flock renewal were never put to a vote. The Township's published resolution index holds two Flock awards, R182-2023 and R117-2025.

What the Township had been told

The State told the Township the rules, more than once.

• On 05/01/2024 a State webinar slide sent to the Chief stated that the money must supplement and not supplant existing spending.
• The State's 2024 past due notices told towns that timely and accurate reports are required by the agreements tied to the money.
• On 07/08/2025 the State Comptroller emailed the CFO its report on Irvington Township. The subject line reads "NEW: Irvington Wasted More Than $600,000 in Opioid Settlement Funds on Two 'Awareness' Concerts, Investigation Finds". The Comptroller's newsletters repeated it to her on 07/30/2025 and 10/21/2025.
• The Comptroller's office wrote to the Township about its own reports on 02/11/2025 and 09/17/2025.

After those notices the account paid Flock 17,500.00 on 01/21/2026, 7,000.00 on 02/11/2026 and 17,500.00 on 04/22/2026, and committed another 7,000.00 on 08/13/2026.

How the decision was made

R267-2022, adopted 10/12/2022, records the Township's participation in a State plate reader initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan.

The Chief signed the Township's first Flock contract on 06/15/2023. The council had awarded the contract the day before under R182-2023, with the CFO's certification of 13,300.00 from a police vehicles and equipment capital line. The first payment, 7,300.00 on 06/28/2023, came from the Township's reserve for State forfeited funds. The Chief had written a week earlier, "The County Prosecutor has approved the use of forfeiture funds."

On 06/04/2024 the Chief wrote to Flock about a quote for five more readers. "My funding won't be available until July. Can you have this quote reflect a 3 year cost breakdown so I can apply it to our capital budget?" On 07/29/2024 he wrote to a police grant service, "I am interested in any FLOCK Safety grants for my Police Department." On 09/25/2024 he asked Flock whether the department was eligible for federal Justice Assistance Grant money. No record shows that the Township applied.

On 09/25/2024 two capital ordinances paid Flock 20,750.00. The police maintenance contracts line paid the 6,000.00 annual contract on 10/09/2024. That was the day the opioid account opened. The Township's vendor payment history shows Flock payments from those three other funds totaling 34,050.00.

Six weeks later the source changed. On 11/18/2024 the Chief wrote, "We are purchasing 5 more from The opioid fund." The BA signed the order form on 12/09/2024. Purchase order 25-00204 followed on 01/16/2025, charged to the opioid account. No resolution authorized the contract. From 01/16/2025 on, every Flock purchase order went to the opioid account.

On 04/19/2025 the Chief made his written request for ten more. "These funds were previously approved for LPR-related use." No council resolution had approved opioid money for readers. The only earlier opioid charge for readers was purchase order 25-00204, which had no award. On 04/21/2025 the BA approved, and the Chief told staff, "Joe Russo advised me to prepare a PO request for this purchase and he will process it. We will be utilizing 'Opioid Settlement Funds.'" Purchase order 25-01370 carries that date. The council adopted R117-2025 two days later. The account paid Flock on 04/28/2025.

Flock invoice INV-77967 was paid from the opioid account under purchase order 26-00123. The invoice cites purchase order 24-03396. The Township's vendor payment history lists purchase order 24-03396 as the purchase paid from the two capital ordinances on 09/25/2024. On the invoice's own reference, the opioid account paid to renew cameras first bought with capital money.

On 07/25/2025 a Flock sales representative wrote to the BA and the Chief about the police department in Fair Lawn, Bergen County. Its chief, he wrote, "wants to discuss which process and language was needed in Washington Twp to enable/approve the use of Opioid Settlement Funding for an ALPR camera deployment." The vendor was using Washington Township as its reference.

What the law allows

Exhibit E Schedule B of the national settlement lists the approved uses. They cover treatment, recovery support, connection to care and prevention. The words surveillance, camera, license plate and ALPR appear nowhere on the list. Neither do police vehicles.

N.J.S.A. 26:2G-39(e) requires evidence based or evidence informed uses. The State Comptroller defined both terms in its Irvington report. Under the Comptroller's definitions, evidence gathered after the money is spent does not qualify (Irvington report, pages 10 to 11).

Section D(2) of the agreement between the State and its towns makes reporting the way compliance is verified. Section D(7) requires the money to supplement local spending and not supplant it. N.J.S.A. 26:2G-39(f) says the same.

On 11/26/2024 the Township charged 117,946.70 of Tahoes to the opioid account. It ordered five more police Tahoes from the same dealer eight months later. That order, with upfit, came to 439,071.95 on a capital ordinance, per the Township's vendor payment history. On orders placed from 2019 to 2026, the same history shows 734,473.20 paid to the dealer from capital. The Township buys police Tahoes from its capital budget as a matter of course. It bought these two from the opioid account. That is supplantation.

Whether plate readers abate opioid harm

Across ten states, at least nineteen agencies have spent over 920,000.00 of opioid money on license plate readers. None has shown the readers reduce overdoses or drug use or connect anyone to treatment. No vendor or state has produced such a study.

Where a standard was applied, these purchases failed it. A Louisiana expert panel found a sheriff's 465,000.00 reader purchase inappropriate. Etowah County, Alabama, spent 42,267.00 of opioid money on readers. It later raised the sheriff's budget by the same amount to reimburse the opioid fund. The Pensacola city council voted 7 to 0 to require council approval of each opioid dollar. It said it would not allow opioid money on the Flock renewal.

An addiction researcher at The College of New Jersey said a Flock camera will not prevent overdose or addiction. A Rutgers professor called Flock a law enforcement and surveillance tool. He said it is not an evidence based public health intervention. He said surveillance can push people who use drugs into more isolated settings.

What the Township said on 09/09/2026

Residents raised the reader purchases at the council meeting of 09/09/2026. The Township's video of the meeting is public. This account paraphrases the meeting's machine generated transcript, which is unverified.

The Chief read a prepared statement. He said the department proposed the purchase and believed in good faith the readers could help break the cycle of addiction related crime. He said that reasoning was there from the beginning. He said agencies in other states had done the same. He said enforcement was never the primary response and pointed to Straight to Treatment, Road to Recovery and Narcan. He said the Township is developing a master plan for the funds. He did not mention the Tahoes.

The records answer each point.

• The beginning. The first readers were paid from forfeiture funds. The next five were quoted for the capital budget. The Chief then asked a grant service about Flock grants. The opioid fund appears in the emails on 11/18/2024.
• Other states. New Jersey's approved uses are set by its own agreement. In July 2025 Flock was citing Washington Township to another New Jersey department as the example to follow.
• The programs. Straight to Treatment and Road to Recovery both began in August 2020 on Operation Helping Hand grants. On 10/01/2023 the Chief asked the police chief in Clayton for a copy of Clayton's Straight to Treatment press release, and his own invitation says the event was coordinated with the County Prosecutor's Office. On 08/06/2024 the county chiefs association wrote that it and the Prosecutor's Office were securing a State grant for those programs, including naloxone pouches for officers. Naloxone reaches police at no cost through the State. None of the three appears on the opioid ledger or in the Township's reports to the State.
• The plan. Each of the Township's three reports told the State it had no strategic plan and had not engaged the public.

Nothing in the statement addressed the reports filed with the State.

A resident said her older children went through D.A.R.E., that nothing ran this year, and asked whether the grant money could have paid for it. The council president said he did not know and offered to find out. Another resident asked what the 81,670.64 inserted into the opioid account in 2026 was for. No official present could say, and the solicitor offered to have the CFO answer. The records answer it. The account's only commitment since those insertions is 7,000.00 to Flock, posted the day after the largest one.

Records the Township said it did not have

Asked under the Open Public Records Act, the Township answered "No responsive documents" for each of the following.

• Drafts, worksheets, source documents or correspondence used to prepare the reports to the State.
• Records establishing, authorizing or describing the Drug Education program.
• Records of the program's creation or launch on or about 09/18/2023.
• Records of the 134,321.38 disbursement, including the payee.
• Contracts, invoices or payment records for the program.
• Any resolution authorizing the Township to join the settlements, and the Township's signed settlement agreements.
• Any policy on managing or spending the settlement money.

It also answered that it could identify no correspondence with the Attorney General, the State Comptroller or the Division of Law about the settlement money. The emails produced on 09/14/2026 contain both Comptroller information requests, the CFO's reply to the Comptroller's office, the BA's reply, and two emails from a Deputy Attorney General about joining further settlements.

The emails transmitting Opioid Report.doc as input for "the annual funding report" were also produced on 09/14/2026. The attachment was not.

What should happen

The account has paid out 267,924.50 for uses not on the approved list. It held 174,709.97 at 08/19/2026. The Township can restore what it spent and use it for a listed purpose. Etowah County reimbursed its opioid fund from the sheriff's budget.

The Township should stop charging Flock to the opioid account, beginning with the 7,000.00 committed on 08/13/2026.

The State relies on these reports to verify compliance. The Department of Human Services and the Office of the State Comptroller should examine the FY2024 and FY2025 reports, who prepared them, and what records support them.

The FY2026 report was due 09/01/2026. Payments in that reporting year total 97,477.80, all upfit and plate readers. A true FY2026 report shows that spending and a balance on hand.

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