3.26 Direct, stepdown, and reciprocal methods; assign costs to departments. Cost information for Lake County Library is as follows. Support Operating Other Direct costs maintenance Administration books media Total Salaries $20 000 $40 000 $50 000 $70 000 $100 000 Supplies 5000 5000 15000 25000 50000 Allocation base volumes Square metres 500 500 1 200 300 2 500 Employees 1 1 2 1 5 In addition to directly traceable costs, the library incurred $24,000 for a building lease. Required (a) Allocate to departments any costs that have not been traced, and then calculate total costs assigned to each department. (b) Allocate the support department costs to the operating departments using the direct method. (c) Allocate the support department costs to the operating departments using the stepdown method. Allocate first the costs for the support department having the largest direct costs. (d) Allocate the support department costs to the operating departments using the reciprocal method. Use either simultaneous equations or Excel Solver