Narrative of Resolution:
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CALLING FOR A TWO-YEAR DELAY OF THE FEDERAL SNAP ADMINISTRATIVE AND BENEFIT COST SHIFTS ENACTED UNDER H.R.1 AND CALLING ON NEW YORK STATE TO HOLD COUNTIES HARMLESS IF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FAILS TO ACT.
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RESOLUTION INTRODUCED BY MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET COMMITTEE CALLING FOR A TWO-YEAR DELAY OF THE FEDERAL SNAP ADMINISTRATIVE AND BENEFIT COST SHIFTS ENACTED UNDER H.R.1 AND CALLING ON NEW YORK STATE TO HOLD COUNTIES HARMLESS IF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FAILS TO ACT.
WHEREAS, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a vital source of food security for New Yorkers, serving approximately 2.7 million individuals in 1.5 million households, or roughly one in seven residents statewide, and delivering an estimated $7.8 billion in federally funded benefits into local communities and economies; and
WHEREAS, New York is one of only ten states in which counties are required by state law to administer SNAP and to share in its administrative costs, meaning that changes to the federal cost structure fall directly on county property taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 1 of the 119th Congress, the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," reduces the federal share of SNAP administrative costs from 50 percent to 25 percent effective October 1, 2026, and under current New York State law the resulting increase in the nonfederal share is borne entirely by counties and the City of New York; and
WHEREAS, this administrative cost shift is estimated at $168 million annually statewide, including approximately $57 million for the 57 counties outside New York City, and is projected to grow as H.R. 1 imposes new verification, tracking, and reporting requirements and expanded work requirements that increase county workloads and staffing needs; and
WHEREAS, the estimated annual administrative cost shift to Sullivan County alone is $830,000, which would require a 1.07% property tax increase; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 1 further establishes, for the first time, a state cost-sharing requirement for SNAP benefits themselves tied to payment error rates, effective October 1, 2027; and
WHEREAS, prior to H.R.l's SNAP changes, eligibility and verification were already bureaucratically dense and thorough, and new requirements add multiple layers of new data and analysis and conformity, verifications, additional staff reviews, training, and computer system upgrades to capture the new federal mandates with inadequate time to implement such expansive changes; and
WHEREAS, New York's payment error rate currently exceeds 10 percent, and would be subject to the highest penalty tier, creating an estimated $1.1 billion in additional annual exposure that the State may seek to shift in whole or in part to counties; and
WHEREAS, the estimated annual error rate cost for Sullivan County is $4,600,000, which would require a 5.95% property tax increase, and
WHEREAS, New York is not unique in having elevated error rates, with 40 states also having error rates high enough that they would be subject to federal fiscal penalties; and
WHEREAS, taken together, the administrative and benefit cost shifts are projected to exceed $1.3 billion in new annual SNAP costs for New York State and the 62 counties, representing one of the largest unfunded intergovernmental cost transfers in recent memory; and
WHEREAS, counties are among the units of government least equipped to absorb these costs, operating under New York State's property tax cap with limited revenue-raising authority, fixed mandated obligations, and no ability to run deficits, such that a cost shift of this magnitude can be met only by raising property taxes, reducing services, or both; and
WHEREAS, if these cost shifts take effect without delay or relief, Sullivan County residents face the prospect of higher property taxes, reductions to essential county services, and increased strain on the Department of Social Services at the very moment demand for food assistance is rising, while food-insecure households risk delays and disruptions in the benefits on which they rely; and
WHEREAS, a delay in implementation would give Congress and New York State the time necessary to develop a responsible funding solution and would protect county taxpayers and SNAP recipients from an abrupt and unbudgeted fiscal shock.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Sullivan County Legislature calls upon the United State Congress to enact a two-year delay of the SNAP administrative cost shift, postponing its effective date from Federal Fiscal Year 2027 to Federal Fiscal Year 2029; and be it further
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Sullivan County further calls upon Congress to enact a corresponding two-year delay of the SNAP benefit cost shift tied to payment error rates, so that neither the State nor its counties are subjected to these new costs before a sustainable funding solution is in place; and be it further
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in the event the federal government fails to delay these cost shifts, Sullivan County calls upon the Governor of the State of New York and the New York State Legislature to hold counties harmless by appropriating state funds to cover the administrative and benefit cost shifts, recognizing that counties are the units of government least equipped to absorb them and that the obligation to share these costs exists only as a matter of state law; and be it further
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Sullivan County Legislature is hereby directed to transmit certified copies of this resolution to the members of the New York State Congressional Delegation representing Sullivan County, to the United States Senators for New York, to the members of the New York State Senate and Assembly representing Sullivan County, to the Governor of the State of New York, and to the New York State Association of Counties.