Statewide cost-allocation (SWICAP) explained: how central service billing affects agency budgets

Jared Tetrault, budget analyst with the Legislative Services Office, gave the committee a high-level explanation of the statewide cost-allocation plan (SWICAP) on Jan. 7, describing how central-service costs are recovered from state agencies and how those adjustments appear in the budget book.

Tetrault said SWICAP is a plan prepared by the Division of Financial Management and submitted to the federal cognizant agency (for Idaho, Health and Human Services) to document how the state allocates central costs across eligible agencies and fund sources. In practice the plan ensures that costs for statewide services—principally the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the State Controller and the Office of the State Treasurer—are distributed equitably to agencies that receive the services.

The part of SWICAP that most often appears in appropriations before this committee is the two-year…