Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Statewide Cost Allocation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Presenter explains SWICAP: how statewide cost allocation affects agency budgets
Summary
Jared Tetrault outlined the statewide cost allocation plan (SWICAP), explaining how central service and direct-billing costs (attorney general, controller, treasurer, ITS, risk management, LSO audits) are recovered across funds and reflected in appropriations with a two‑year lag.
Jared Tetrault described the statewide cost allocation plan (commonly called SWICAP) to the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee on Jan. 7, explaining how central service charges are calculated and how those charges appear in agency budgets.
"SWICAP ... is an actual document that the division of financial management puts together that they send off to our federal authorizing entity," Tetrault said, describing the plan as the method for allocating central service costs equitably across funds and agencies.
Tetrault told members SWICAP has two parts as it appears in the budget: allocations for central service agencies (the attorney general, the state controller and the state treasurer) and budget adjustments for direct-billing agencies (risk management, building services, the Legislative Services Office audit division and the state's information-technology services). He said allocation methods vary by central service: attorney-general recovery is tied to billable hours (excluding the criminal division); controller charges reflect accounting transactions and number of active employees per pay period; treasurer charges are related to warrants issued.
He explained the timing: costs appropriated in one fiscal year (for example, fiscal 2023) are measured against actual usage and then recovered in the budget two years later (for example, reflected in fiscal 2025 appropriations). Tetrault summarized recent dollar amounts presented in agency material: controller recoveries in the millions, treasurer and attorney-general recoveries likewise, and central direct-billing items such as ITS and risk management representing sizable annual adjustments.
Tetrault said most central-service costs are recovered to the state's general fund and that agencies funded by dedicated or federal sources effectively cover their share by having those charges allocated to their fund lines. He emphasized that many of SWICAP's detailed allocations are calculated by the division of financial management and notified to agencies before they are incorporated in budget requests.
Committee members asked how the underlying measures are calculated and how the allocations affect agency-level appropriations. Tetrault said agencies may raise allocation questions with DFM and LSO during the budget process; adjustments and corrections can occur when agencies present their decision packets.
"There's always a two-year lag," he said, describing the operational timing of appropriation, measurement and recovery.
No formal committee action was taken during the presentation. Members were directed to the budget-book language and to the SharePoint materials for agency-level SWICAP detail.
Ending: Members were advised to consult the SWICAP calculations in agency decision packets and DFM notices when reviewing appropriations in work groups; the presenter offered to provide additional breakdowns by expense category on request.
