One-Time Purchases and Next Year's Budget

A single large purchase, such as a wheelchair ramp, can be the right thing to buy and still cause a problem: it can change next year's budget in a way that does not reflect ongoing needs. The Individual Program Plan (IPP) team has a way to handle this, but only if someone raises it.

How a one-time purchase touches next year

As of 2026 the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) describes the individual budget as being set by the IPP team from purchase-of-service spending in the most recent 12 months. That is the mechanism that can go wrong, because a single year of history is doing the work of predicting the next one.

DDS says a budget may be reduced by one-time spending, and that the IPP team can identify one-time needs, such as a ramp, so they are not part of the next year's calculation. Exactly how the calculation treats a flagged item is a question for your service coordinator. The principle is the part to hold onto: one-time spending and recurring spending should not be mixed together when the next budget is set.

The same logic runs the other way. If a one-time item is needed next year but was not bought this year, the history-based number will not include it unless the IPP team adds it.

The fix in both directions is the same. The IPP team writes down which spending was one-time and treats it separately from the recurring services when the next budget is set.

Budgets move both ways

The individual budget is not fixed for life. DDS says it can be adjusted up or down when needs, circumstances or resources change. As of July 2025 that is stated explicitly, with minimum-wage increases given as an example. A one-time need is a change in circumstances. So is a one-time need going away.

That means two separate conversations at the IPP meeting:

• This year: does the current budget have room for the purchase, or does the budget need an adjustment to cover it?
• Next year: is this purchase flagged as one-time so it is left out of the recurring calculation?

See Individual Budget vs. Spending Plan for the difference between the budget and the plan that spends it.

What to document

The IPP team can only exclude what it can see. Before the meeting, gather:

• What the item is and what it does for the participant. Tie it to a need in the IPP.
• Why it is one-time. A ramp is built once. A yearly maintenance contract is not one-time.
• The cost, from a quote or invoice. If the item was already bought, the paid invoice from your Financial Management Service (FMS) records.
• Which budget category and service code it was paid under, or will be paid under. Your FMS can tell you this.
• Whether a generic resource should pay for it instead. Medi-Cal, for example, covers some equipment. If a generic agency is responsible, SDP funds cannot be used. See What an SDP Budget Can and Cannot Pay For.
• Confirmation that the item fits a DDS service definition. The regional center will check this anyway; better to know first.

Keep copies. The IPP is the record the regional center will look back at when next year's budget is calculated.

How to raise it at the IPP meeting

1. Ask for it to be on the agenda. Tell the service coordinator ahead of time that you want to discuss a one-time purchase and its effect on next year.
2. Present the need first, then the item. The IPP is built around needs and outcomes. A ramp is how the person gets in and out of the house safely.
3. Ask two direct questions. Can the current budget be adjusted to cover this? Will it be recorded as one-time and left out of next year's calculation?
4. Ask for the answer in writing. The spending plan and the IPP should both show it. If the budget is adjusted, ask for the updated budget amount to be stated.
5. Send the approved paperwork to your FMS. Nothing can be paid until the FMS has the approved spending plan and a matching authorization. See Changing Your Spending Plan Mid-Year.

If the request is denied, you have the same appeal and fair-hearing rights as in traditional regional center services.

What about money that is not spent?

Families often ask whether unspent money in a one-time category is lost, rolled forward, or counted against them. The rules on unspent funds are outside what we can state with confidence here. Ask your service coordinator before the plan year ends, not after.

How Sentinel Four handles this

• Your dedicated case manager can pull the paid invoice, the service code and the category for any purchase already made, so you walk into the IPP meeting with the actual numbers.
• We pay a one-time purchase the same way we pay anything else. The request goes to your case manager, we check it against the approved spending plan, the remaining funds and the regional center authorization, and then we pay by ACH or check, or in some cases by a virtual card tied to the participant's budget, subject to approval. See Paying Vendors Under SDP.
• The purchase shows in the portal under its category, so you and your service coordinator see the same figure when next year's budget is discussed. See Reading Your Budget in the Portal.
• We do not decide whether an item is one-time. That is the IPP team's call and the regional center's approval. We record what was approved and report on it.