{"id":334322,"date":"2026-09-01T00:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T00:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/334322\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T00:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T00:06:11","slug":"counties-urge-hochul-to-act-on-federal-snap-cost-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/334322\/","title":{"rendered":"Counties urge Hochul to act on federal SNAP cost shift"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 2.7 million New Yorkers receive the food benefit known as SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It had been a 50-50 split between the federal government and New York state counties which administer the benefit.\u00a0 But in 2025, under the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act\u201d that calculus changed. Now, New York state counties must come up with 75% of the money to administer the program, while the federal government spends 25%.<\/p>\n

In most other states, it\u2019s the state that implements SNAP, but not in New York, New Jersey or North Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York state counties are now sounding the alarm over two issues, the higher costs to implement the program, and the higher costs of so-called \u201cerror rate\u201d penalties that will kick in in 2027.<\/p>\n

In a conversation with Capital Tonight, both Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties, and Dan McCoy, the Albany County executive, are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to help counties pay the extra cost.<\/p>\n

Much more from New York State Focus can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state has to make this up. This will destroy counties\u2019 property tax base. This will destroy any opportunity for New York counties to stay under the state-imposed property tax cap,\u201d Acquario told Capital Tonight. \u201cWe\u2019ve already seen a dozen counties breech that tax cap in 2026, and you ain\u2019t seen nothin\u2019 yet. If any of these costs are shifted onto county governments, there is no way that they can stay under a state-imposed property tax cap.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cost of the shift onto counties for a year is estimated to be an additional $168 million<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year alone, in October, we [Albany County] have to come up with $750,000\u201d McCoy said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been lobbying the state to cover that, which we have not heard back.\u00a0 Next year, if this stays the way it is, we\u2019re looking at over $13 million that we have to come up with.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked how he would make up that revenue, McCoy mentioned either raising taxes or utilizing reserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t raised taxes in 12 years,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is forcing our hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this administrative change kicks in in October, the more expensive cost-shift that counties will have to bear will come into play next October, 2027: the error rate cost-shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means [the number of] improper filings were done administratively by the counties in the state of New York in reporting the 3 million recipients from the state of New York,\u201d Acquario explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cGov. Hochul, please help the counties stay under the property tax cap,\u201d Acquario stated when asked what he would like to say to the governor. \u201cThe state has to rescue the counties from this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

An emailed request for comment to the Hochul administration was not answered.<\/p>\n

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