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Statewide cost‑allocation plan explained: $78M program spreads central service costs across agencies
Summary
Jared Tetrault briefed the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on the statewide cost allocation plan (SWICAP), describing how costs for the attorney general, state controller and treasurer and select direct‑billing services are recovered across state agencies and funds and noting the plan recovers roughly $78 million statewide.
Jared Tetrault presented the statewide cost allocation plan (SWICAP) to the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 7, describing how central‑service costs are allocated across state agencies and fund sources.
What SWICAP does: Tetrault said SWICAP is both a document and a budgeting process used to recover central‑service costs — legal services, accounting and payroll processing, and treasury functions — from agencies that benefit from those services. The fiscal mechanics work on a two‑year lag: costs appropriated for a central service in one fiscal year are reconciled to actual use and then billed back to agencies in subsequent budgets.
Who is covered: Central service agencies include the Attorney General’s Office (excluding criminal division hours), the Office of the State Controller and the State Treasurer. Direct billings cover additional services such as risk management, building/capital mall services, legislative audits and information‑technology services.
Scale and mechanics: Tetrault said the program total is about $78 million when all central and direct billings are aggregated. The presentation showed sample 2023 appropriations and recovery estimates: the controller’s 2023 appropriation of roughly $4.8 million is expected to be fully recovered; the treasurer’s recovery is likewise near 100%; the attorney general’s recovery historically is lower (roughly 80% recovered to date), leaving a net general‑fund appropriation for that office. Tetrault explained cost drivers: attorney general billings are based on billable hours (excluding criminal work), controller billings on payroll/transaction counts and active employees, and treasurer billings on warrants issued.
Why it matters: Changes in agency staffing, litigation volume or federal funding can shift an agency’s share of these central costs and therefore change appropriations or the SWICAP billing for other agencies. Tetrault said agencies receive DFM’s calculations by October so those adjustments can appear in budget materials; agencies may propose alternative splits when special circumstances apply (for example, new positions paid from a particular fund source).
Direct billing examples and trends: Tetrault noted planned adjustments: audit billings were projected to decline from roughly $1.5 million to about $1.1 million based on recent audit calculations; risk management billings were down in the governor’s recommended budget; ITS billings were also projected to decline modestly.
Committee follow‑up: Tetrault said staff would provide a more detailed percentage breakdown to the committee on request and that analysts can provide line‑by‑line detail for workgroup hearings.
Ending: The SWICAP briefing gave committee members context for recurring adjustments they will see across agency budgets as the committee reviews maintenance and enhancement requests.
