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Fulton commissioners unanimously adopt stopgap funding and halt residential water shutoffs while SNAP remains suspended
Summary
After extended debate over two competing proposals, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 250845 directing the county manager to deploy immediate stopgap funding to nonprofit partners and senior nutrition programs and to suspend residential water shutoffs while SNAP benefits are suspended.
The Fulton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Nov. 5 to adopt Resolution 250845, directing the county manager to provide immediate stopgap support to nonprofit partners and senior nutrition programs in response to the suspension of federal SNAP benefits and to prohibit residential water shutoffs while benefits remain suspended.
The vote came after more than an hour of public testimony and debate among commissioners over competing proposals. Commissioner Pia Barrett had offered a separate resolution (250846) that would have authorized up to $4.4 million to cover an estimated 145,000 affected residents; that substitute motion was defeated on a 3-4 vote. Commissioners then returned to the chair's resolution, added a friendly amendment to pause residential water terminations while SNAP is suspended, and approved 250845 unanimously.
Chairman Pitts described 250845 as a measured interim response to possible delays in benefit issuance and said the item authorizes manager-level stopgap support to partner organizations while the federal situation develops. Commissioner Barrett explained her alternative sought an "up to" amount to give the manager broader flexibility and invoked food-bank formulas to justify the larger figure; Commissioners Arrington and others pushed for a higher cap citing available reserves and budget underruns.
County staff said the version advanced by the chair focuses resources on organizations already vetted through prior competitive processes and can be deployed quickly by amending existing contract awards. Chief Financial Officer Sharon Whitmore told the board staff could implement awards expeditiously, using existing contract awards and amendment authority, and that most recipient organizations already have EFT arrangements for payments.
The board recorded several related votes: a substitute motion to adopt the larger, up-to-$4.4 million plan failed 3-4; the main motion to adopt 250845 then passed unanimously. The county said it would proceed with contract amendments and confirmed payments could be distributed within weeks, depending on the contracting steps required.
The board and county staff emphasized the funding is intended as a short-term emergency response while SNAP benefits are stabilized and that any further allocations would be considered month to month depending on federal actions and demonstrated need.
