MEMORANDUM NO. 98-31

July 10, 1998

TO THE HEADS OF ALL STATE AGENCIES

Attached is the approved 1997-98 Statewide Cost Allocation Plan, dated June 11, 1998.

This section contains the fixed approved central service costs by grantee agencies as listed in Exhibit A. The costs are to be incorporated into agency indirect cost proposals prepared using the appropriate fiscal year costs and other cost statements based upon the same fiscal year costs.

All state agencies receiving Federal or any other grants, or private funds, etc., must compute an indirect cost rate for each fiscal year of their Federal or other programs. The proposal is to be submitted for approval to the agency's cognizant Federal department or agency within six months after the close of each fiscal year. Generally, Federal cognizance of a particular state agency is assigned to that Federal department with the largest dollar involvement. This rate shall enable the state to recover both agency and statewide indirect costs as permitted by Federal regulations.

The central service costs are distributed to various "superagencies" and an "all others" category. REQUESTS FOR A BREAKDOWN OF COSTS ALLOCABLE TO A PARTICULAR AGENCY CONTAINED WITHIN THOSE LARGER ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO:

Office of the State Comptroller
Budget and Financial Analysis Division - Cost Unit
55 Elm Street
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-1775

The categories listed herein are approved to have their costs billed to the programs directly as the services or goods provided for herein are used by the programs.

Fringe Benefit Cost Recovery Rates. The approved 1997-98 fringe benefit recovery rates for covered payroll are listed on Exhibit B. Covered payroll is all personal services for positions paid from Federal grants, Grants other than Federal, and other than General Fund accounts.

These rates are strictly defined by the particular character and object code to which the personal services expenditure is charged. The multiple rates should eliminate the need for any variances to compensate for employees who receive less than the full fringe benefit package. Only those programs that limit the amount of fringe benefit cost recovery by statute or regulation, or originate from budgeted General Fund appropriations, will be granted a variance. No variances can be granted for the sole reason that a State agency failed to provide for the inclusion of fringe benefits in their grant budget requests. Requests for variances to the fringe benefit rate must be submitted in writing by each agency to the Budget and Financial Analysis Division in accordance with procedures set forth in the Indirect Cost and Fringe Benefit Recovery Procedures Manual.

For information purposes, listed below are the breakdowns of the statewide fringe benefit rates by fringe benefit component.

The rates listed on Exhibit B were originally published under Memorandum No. 97-34 for the 1997-98 fiscal year.

Rates have been established for employees covered by the Hazardous Duty Retirement Plan and the Judges/Compensation Commissioners Retirement Plan. Continue to use existing expenditure object coding for payroll purposes. A variance is now required when paying employees covered by the Hazardous Duty Retirement Plan or the Judges/Compensation Commissioner Retirement Plan with Federal or any fund other than the General Fund.

Workers' Compensation Costs. Actual cost of claims paid per agency during the 1997-98 fiscal year should be included in any Indirect Cost Proposal or Cost Allocation Plan using costs included in the 1997-98 Statewide Cost Allocation Plan.

Please call the Cost Reporting Unit, Budget and Financial Analysis Division at 860-702-3364 if you need the amount of claims paid on behalf of your agency.

If you have any questions regarding this memorandum please call the Cost Reporting Unit, Budget and Financial Analysis Division at 860-702-3364.

Treatment of Fringe Benefits: Fringe benefits applicable to direct salaries and wages are treated as direct costs.

NOTE 1

Fringe Benefit Rate: Separate fringe benefit rates are determined for each salary and wage character/object code in the accounting system using a combination of the above fringe benefit rate components. These rates are maintained on file by the State of Connecticut.

NOTE 2

Treatment of Paid Absences: Vacation, holiday, sick leave pay and other absences are included in salaries and wages and are claimed on grants, contracts and other agreement as a part of the normal costs for salaries and wages. Separate claims for the costs of these paid absences are not made.

COST ALLOCATION AGREEMENT
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

SECTION I: ALLOCATED COSTS

The central service costs listed in Exhibit A, attached, are approved on a Fixed basis and may be included as part of the costs of the State/local departments and agencies indicated during the fiscal year ended 6/30/98 for further allocation to Federal grants, contracts and other agreement performed at those departments and agencies.

SECTION II: BILLED COSTS

In addition to Section I, which provides for services furnished but not billed, the services listed below are furnished and billed to State/local department and agencies.

1. Fringe Benefits (See Addendum)
2. Workers' Compensation
3. Telephone
4. DAS/ISF - Central Print Shop
5. DAS/ISF - Central Warehouse
6. DAS/ISF - Fleet Operations
7. DAS/ISF - Data Processing
8. Correctional Industries Revolving Fund
9. Bank Charges

SECTION III: CONDITIONS

The amounts approved in Section I and the billings for the services listed in Section II are subject to the following conditions:

1. LIMITATIONS: (1) Charges resulting from this agreement are subject to any statutory or administrative limitation and apply to a given grant, contract or other agreement only to the extent that funds are available. (2) Such charges represent costs incurred by the State/locality which are legal obligations of the State/locality and are allowable under OMB Circular A-87. (3) The same costs that are treated as indirect costs are not claimed as direct costs. (4) Similar types of costs are accorded consistent accounting treatment. (5) The information provided by the State/locality which was used to establish this Agreement is not later found to be materially incomplete or inaccurate.
2. ACCOUNTING CHANGES: This Agreement is based on the accounting system purported by the State/locality to be in effect during the Agreement period. Changes to the method of accounting for costs which affect the amount of reimbursement resulting from the use of this Agreement require prior approval of the authorized representative of the Cognizant Agency. Such changes include, but are not limited to, changes in the charging of a particular type of cost from an allocated cost to a billed cost. Failure to obtain approval may result in cost disallowance.
3. FIXED AMOUNTS: If fixed amounts are approved in Section I of this Agreement, they are based on an estimate of the costs for the period covered by the Agreement. When the actual costs for this period are determined, adjustments will be made to the amounts of a future year to compensate for the difference between the costs used to establish the fixed amounts and the actual costs.
4. BILLED COSTS: Charges for the services listed in Section II will be billed in accordance with rates established by the State/locality. These rates will be based on the estimated costs of providing the services. Adjustments for variances between billed costs and the actual allowable costs of providing the services, as defined by OMB Circular A-87, will be made in accordance with procedures agreed to between the State/locality and the Cognizant Agency.
5. USE BY OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES: This Agreement was executed in accordance with the authority in OMB Circular A-87, and should be applied to grants, contracts and other agreements covered by that Circular, subject to any limitations in Paragraph A above. The State/locality may provide copies of the Agreement to other Federal Agencies to give them early notification of the Agreement.
6. SPECIAL REMARKS:

   See Addendum

Exhibit A
STATE OF CONNECTICUT 1997-98 CONSOLIDATED STATEWIDE COST ALLOCATION PLAN
SUMMARY OF COSTS WITH BUDGET FACTOR APPLIED RECOVERED ON GRANTS
NEGOTIATED OR RENEWED DURING FISCAL YEAR 1997-98.

Exhibit B

The 1997-98 FRINGE BENEFIT RATES rates were originally published under Memoranda NO. 97-34 for the 1997-98 fiscal year.

NW:RWK

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