State Independent Living Council seeks budget shift to cover salary increases

The Idaho State Independent Living Council told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Jan. 15 that it consistently spends most of its dedicated federal fund revenue and is asking the committee to approve a small transfer of appropriation from its dedicated fund to the general fund.

Kellen McGurkin, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told committee members the council’s dedicated fund receives federal independent-living grants that pass through the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. "Silc consistently spends nearly all of its available revenue," McGurkin said, adding that the agency typically maintains an ending balance near $280,000, roughly six and a half months of expenses.

The governor’s recommendation for fiscal year 2026, McGurkin said, would shift $11,700 in appropriation from the council’s dedicated fund to the general fund. McGurkin said that change would allow the general fund to cover about half of the statewide health benefit and change-in-employee-compensation (CEC) increases that otherwise would have been covered from the dedicated fund.

Mel Levitan, executive director of the Idaho State Independent Living Council, told the committee the agency has four full-time positions, including the director, a financial specialist, a program specialist and an administrative assistant, and that the positions have been largely stable. Levitan thanked the committee for a $10,000 increase last year that paid for external audits and said the council completed audits for FY 2022–24 with no findings. "We make the most that we can with a very small budget," Levitan said.

McGurkin noted that differences between federal grant periods and the state fiscal year can make revenue and expenditure comparisons look mismatched from one year to the next. He said the agency once showed small overspends in a given fiscal year because of timing differences, not because actual funding was unavailable.

The analyst also summarized the council’s five-year averages: approximately 69% of appropriated personnel costs are spent on personnel, and in FY 2024 about 70% of expenditures were personnel costs while the remaining 30% were operating expenses; roughly 60% of operating costs accounted for travel and rental costs to provide trainings statewide.

The council’s presentation and the committee’s questions were informational; no formal committee action or vote was recorded during the hearing. The committee will consider the governor’s recommendation and the maintenance budget decisions as part of its upcoming budget-setting process.