Statewide cost allocation explained: how central services get billed to agencies

Jared Tetrault, a Legislative Services Office analyst, told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 7 that the statewide cost allocation plan (SWICAP) is the mechanism by which Idaho’s central service agencies recover shared costs from state agencies and fund sources.

Tetrault said SWICAP has two parts for budget purposes: (1) recovery for statewide central service agencies — principally the attorney general, state controller and state treasurer — based on billable metrics; and (2) direct billing agencies and services such as risk management, building services, the legislative audit division and the office of information technology services.

He explained the common allocation drivers: attorney general billings are based on billable hours (excluding the criminal division); controller fees are allocated by accounting transactions and active employees per pay period; and treasurer fees are tied to number of warrants issued. The division of financial management compiles the allocation and notifies agencies by October of the amounts that will be reflected in the budget two years after the service year.

Tetrault emphasized the two‑year lag between when central services are provided and when the resulting adjustments are reflected in agency appropriations: “What was provided in '23 is recovered in the '25 budget,” he said, noting that “there’s always a two year lag.” Agencies may dispute allocations or ask for adjustments at the appropriation phase, he said.

He gave committee members example amounts from the most recent cycle: the controller’s FY23 appropriation was roughly $4.8 million (estimated to be fully recovered), the treasurer’s allocation around $966,000, and the attorney general’s recoverable portion in the presentation ranged near $14–16 million (the AG is typically not fully recovered from its general‑fund appropriation). Aggregated, those central fund appropriations were shown as about $21.8 million in the base with roughly $19.8 million recovered to date.

Tetrault also described the direct‑billing components that appear in many agency appropriations. He said legislative audit billings that paid LSO audit work were about $1.5 million and have been calculated to fall to about $1.1 million; risk management billings in the base were approximately $18.3 million and are budgeted to drop to about $16.2 million; and information technology services billings were shown at about $39.7 million and expected to fall to $36.8 million. Tetrault noted the governor’s budget book shows only net changes on agency pages; members may request granular breakout by cost category if they need it.

He told members the statewide program covers roughly $7.98 billion in total appropriations across affected agencies when all central services and agency budgets are included; the numbers in the budget book reflect the incremental changes the committee will consider.

Tetrault offered to provide the committee a more accurate percentage breakout of how much of each central service is recovered from general fund, dedicated funds and federal funds once he completes a follow‑up report. He also walked members through where statutory authority appears in the budget material and where to find SWICAP calculations on the legislative budget SharePoint.