Statewide Cost Allocation

Part of the responsibilities of OSRAP is to prepare the Statewide Cost Allocation Plan. After the preparation is complete, OSRAP must negotiate this document with the federal authorities to obtain a mutually acceptable document that is then distributed to state agencies for their use. The Statewide Cost Allocation Plan is defined as the documentation identifying, accumulating, and allocating or developing billing rates based on the allowable costs of services provided by a governmental unit on a centralized basis to its departments and agencies. The costs of these services may be allocated or billed to users.

As mentioned above, the Plan is divided into two parts, the allocated or Section A costs and the billed or Section B costs. Central service costs such as the cost of operating this office, the State Budget Office, or Civil Service comprise Section A (the allocated costs). Section B costs are the bill costs from such entities as the Office of Telecommunications, the Retirement Systems, and others. State agencies may only charge federal programs if the state has an approved Statewide Cost Allocation Program. With the large amount of federal funds coming into the state, the importance of the Plan cannot be over emphasized