1. The director shall calculate, in collaboration with the human service zone director or designee, the total payment for each human service zone. The calculation must be based on the human service zone's most recently available data on historical cost and income, and may include: a. Other factors outlined in subsection 3; b. The human service zone director's proposed budget for the human service zone which may include expansion of scope of human services to include kinship care services and payments and services in response to the federal Family First Prevention Services Act as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 [Pub. L. 115-123];
c. Compensation equity and salary increases. The department may limit future salary increases for human service zone team members to the salary increase provided by the legislative assembly for state employees; and d. Current and future duties of and services offered by the human service zone and department. 2. The director shall authorize expenditures from the human service finance fund to reimburse the department for the department's costs of providing human services that historically have been provided by a county, human service zone, or a new service or program based on federal or state law. The department may authorize expenditures from the human service finance fund to reimburse the department for transitional costs incurred for implementing the statewide program for state funding. 3. The director may recalculate and adjust each human service zone's payment based on pertinent factors, which include actual expenditures over the previous or current payment period, current costs, offered services, need, income, performance of duties directed or assigned and supervised by the department, and caseload. If the director amends and modifies a human service zone's payment, the human service zone director must be notified within thirty days of amendment or modification. The spending authority of the human service zone must be increased or decreased based on the approved, adjusted, or modified payment. 4. The director shall calculate payment for indirect costs. Indirect costs of the human service zone may not become direct costs without written approval of the department. The total payment by the department for reimbursement of indirect costs incurred to support human services must be within legislative appropriation and be based on the annual indirect cost plan starting August 1, 2023, for the counties to budget for the 2024 fiscal year. The 2023 cost allocation plan must be based on the requested information received from the counties. 5. Direct costs must be applied consistently within all human service zones and may not be included in indirect costs. 6. Indirect costs must be applied consistently within all counties as it relates to human service zones and may not be included in direct costs. 7. Counties shall provide the requested information for the cost allocation plan by September fifteenth of each year. The department shall provide notice to the county commissioners and auditors sixty days before the deadline if the county does not participate in providing information for the cost allocation plan. If counties fail to provide the requested information by September fifteenth of each year, the counties may not participate in the cost allocation plan and must be responsible for one hundred percent of all indirect costs. 8. The director may authorize expenditures from the human service finance fund to reimburse all indirect costs associated with a statewide pilot project, service, or program performed by a human service zone.
50-35-05. Human service zone human services fund - Establishment - Fund balance limitations. 1. Each human service zone in this state shall maintain a fund to be known as the human service zone human services fund. All expenditures, excluding indirect costs payments, by the human service zone for human services must be paid from the human service zone human services fund. If, due to unforeseen or other extenuating circumstances, a human service zone's distribution payment and balance of moneys carried over pursuant to subsection 2 are not sufficient to meet the expenses of that human service zone, the director may approve a transfer from the human service finance fund to the human service zone human services fund. 2. The balance of moneys in the human service zone human services fund on January first of each year, after calendar year 2020, may not exceed five hundred thousand dollars for a human service zone that had annual expenditures of two million dollars or greater in calendar year 2020 or two hundred fifty thousand dollars for a human service zone that had annual expenditures of less than two million dollars in calendar
year 2020. The balance of moneys carried over must be used for the administration of human services within that human service zone as approved by the human service zone director and may not be used for the county's cost allocation of indirect costs. The human service zone human services fund is not subject to any other charges and is exempt from section 21-02-08.