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Board briefed on SNAP changes: counties face administrative funding gap and new error-rate risks
Summary
A CCAO representative warned the board that federal SNAP administrative match will drop from 50% to 25% Oct. 1, 2026, creating a projected $51 million annual statewide county funding shortfall; Ohio appropriations partially offset the shortfall but Hamilton Countyexpects a larger local gap. Commissioners pressed for clarity on error-rate calculations, peer review sampling, and the potential for state penalties.
Rachel Massude, representing the County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO), briefed the Board on major federal and state changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and what they mean for county administration.
Massude said the federal administrative match rate, historically 50%, is scheduled to drop to 25% beginning Oct. 1, 2026, which CCAO estimates will translate to roughly $51 million in annual county administrative funding loss statewide. She said the federal changes also introduce a new penalty mechanism that could require states to cover a portion of SNAP benefit costs if a state's error rate (AR) remains above the statutory threshold.
"If states are unable to get their AR rate below 6% they will be required to pay a portion of that benefit cost," Massude said, adding that Ohio's most recent federal fiscal-year AR was about 9%.
State legislative steps so far include House Bill 434 (funding for the state portion of administrative costs for the remainder of fiscal 2027) and House Bill 730 (a one-time $10 million appropriation for county JFS agencies, which, after federal match, yields about $12.5 million for the October-to-June window). Massude said counties will receive an allocation formula (about $226,486 per county or projected loss, whichever is less), but Hamilton County's projected loss is larger than that allotment.
Massude described the error-rate measurement and a new county-level desk-review process set to begin the week of April 6: Ohio will require counties to perform desk reviews of a monthly sample (Hamilton County will receive 25 cases per month) and the state will provide a quarterly county-by-county report to the General Assembly. The desk reviews are peer-review style and include an appeals process.
Commissioners asked how AR penalties would be allocated if large benefit-cost exposure arises; Massude said assessing any benefit-cost on counties would require state statute change and that it remains unclear how the state would proceed. Board members expressed concern about system workarounds: Massude said the Ohio benefits system includes hundreds of workarounds that, if not applied correctly, will be counted as county errors under the new quality-control process.
Board members and staff discussed a distinction the new process will make between client-generated errors, staff errors and system errors. Massude said, as currently structured, system workarounds can be counted as county errors, and the state has provided some funding for Ohio benefits IT upgrades.
Next steps: counties will begin desk reviews in early April, report quarterly, and continue advocating for federal delay or clarification; commissioners discussed potential local resolutions and outreach to the congressional delegation.
