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Statewide Cost Allocation Plan

The State of Vermont utilizes a Statewide Cost Allocation Plan (SWCAP), as authorized by federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87, to charge statewode indirect administrative costs to federal programs. The SWCAP permits the State to determine costs that are associated with the general administration of the State of Vermont and to allocate a portion of these costs to federal programs. These costs may be claimed as indirect administrative costs or used as a portion of the required matching state share.

The Department of Finance & Management, Financial Operations Division, prepares and submits the Statewide Cost Allocation Plan to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Cost Allocation (DCA), annually. The SWCAP is a statistical method of allocating central government costs to the state agencies that receive central government supportive services. The SWCAP is reviewed and approved by DCA and remains in effect for a single state fiscal year period.

 

Portions of the costs of the following state agencies are allocated within the SWCAP:

  • Finance & Management
  • State Treasurer
  • Buildings and General Services (BGS)
  • Records Center (Public Records)
  • Human Resources
  • Secretary of Administration
In addition, it includes an allocation for the following costs:
  • Building Depreciation
  • Equipment Expenditures
A-87 deems the following costs of State government to be unallowable and, as such, they are not included in the SWCAP:
  • Governor’s Office
  • State legislature
  • Judiciary Branch
The following mechanisms are used to allocate operating expenses of the central service agencies to the line agencies of state government.
  • Finance & Management: Budget Analysts’ hours worked
  • State Treasurer: Vouchers and Payroll checks processed
  • BGS-Purchasing: Purchase orders processed by purchasing agent
  • BGS-Engineering: Square footage of state-owned buildings
  • Record Center: Cost of records stored
  • Human Resources: Average number of filled positions
  • Secretary of Administration: Average number of filled positions
  • Building Depreciation: Square footage of state-owned buildings
  • Equipment Expenditures: Equipment depreciation and cost of non-depreciable equipment

Once approved by DCA, state agencies that receive federal grants may claim these costs as an indirect cost of managing federal programs. The costs may or may not be subject to further allocation within their own agency, per the terms of their own arrangement with DCA or other federal regulations.

 

Approved SWCAP Documents

Approval Letters Exhibit A
2010 Approval Letter PDF (1.7mb) 2010 Exhibit A PDF (13k)
2009 Approval Letter PDF (124k) 2009 Exhibit A PDF (14k)

2008 Approval Letter PDF (123k)

 2008 Exhibit A PDF (14k)