State Independent Living Council seeks small appropriation shift as agency highlights steady federal funding

The Idaho State Independent Living Council told the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee on Jan. 15 that it consistently spends nearly all of the federal grant revenue it receives and supports a governor-recommended transfer of $11,700 in appropriation from its dedicated fund to the general fund.

Kellan McGurkin, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee that SILC receives federal independent living grants under Title I of the Rehabilitation Act and Title VII of the Workforce Innovation Act and that those federal receipts pass through the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. McGurkin said the council typically “spends nearly all of its available revenue, but typically maintains an ending balance close to that $280,000 mark,” about six and a half months of expenses.

McGurkin said differences in federal grant periods and the state fiscal year can make a single fiscal year look like expenditures exceeded receipts; he told Senator Sandra Cook, “Overspent isn't a term I would use,” and explained the apparent mismatch is due to timing rather than permanent shortfalls.

The agency has four full-time positions: the executive director and three support staff. Mel Levitan, executive director of the Idaho State Independent Living Council, told the committee SILC is governed by volunteers, “the only council in the state that is governed by a majority of people with disabilities,” and said the agency travels statewide to provide training and outreach.

McGurkin said SILC’s five-year snapshots show personnel costs typically account for about 69–70% of expenditures and that in FY 2023 Title I funding increased by about $30,000, the first such increase in roughly a decade. He said the governor’s recommendation for FY 2026 would shift $11,700 of appropriation from SILC’s dedicated fund to the general fund; the change would reduce the agency’s dedicated fund appropriation and increase general fund appropriation so the general fund would cover roughly half of statewide health benefit and CEC salary increases otherwise charged to the dedicated fund.

Levitan thanked the committee for a $10,000 line-item increase provided last year to complete outstanding audits and credited agency staff for completing audits for 2022–24 with no findings. He said there has been no turnover since the 2020 hire and reiterated the agency’s outreach mission.

The committee did not take a vote on the request during the Jan. 15 hearing. The presentation and the agency director’s remarks were informational ahead of budget-setting votes later in the session.

Ending: The LSO analyst provided supplemental slides and a fund analysis that the committee can review; committee members asked no further questions during the SILC presentation.