Each year, the County prepares the Countywide Cost Allocation Plan (the Cost Plan) as required under Federal Office of Management and Budget Rules and Regulations 2 CFR Part 200, “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards” to allow for reimbursement of indirect costs from State and Federal agencies.

The Cost Plan is an important document that allocates the costs of central servicing departments (e.g. Administrative Office, Auditor-Controller, Human Resources, Central Services, County Counsel, etc.) to the departments receiving the services. The Cost Plan also allocates building and equipment use allowance that is based on the cost of the buildings and equipment and their useful lives.

All costs are allocated on a basis that is directly related to the amount of service required, i.e., personnel costs are allocated by the number of employees in each department, building use-allowance is allocated by the square footage used by each department, etc. The purpose of allocating costs is to determine the amount of Countywide overhead each department should include when calculating the total cost of a particular service, program, or its entire operation.