Snap benefit changes October 1 will cut SNAP administration reimbursement from 50% to 25% under HR 1, shifting more of the program’s overhead to North Carolina counties. Tommy Dills, the Swain County Manager, said the change does not alter who needs help in Swain County. It changes who pays.
“HR 1 doesn’t change who’s hungry in Swain County,” Dills said. “It doesn’t change any of that. It just changes who pays for it.”
HR 1 and county budgets
HR 1 is also called the One Big Beautiful Bill. Starting Oct. 1, it will require counties to cover 75% of SNAP administrative costs, up from the current 50% federal reimbursement level. County commissioners in North Carolina set their budgets, so the added cost lands in county spending plans rather than in a separate state account.
North Carolina is one of nine states that uses a state-supervised, county-administered social services system. Each North Carolina DSS office is an independent county-run agency, which means the reimbursement cut flows through county budgets rather than a single statewide office.
Jackson County DSS on Aug. 4
On Aug. 4, Jackson County DSS Director Cris Weatherford laid out the shift to the Jackson County Board of Commissioners during a work session. Weatherford said, “The can is getting kicked ever increasingly to the county from our federal and state governments.”
That presentation put the reimbursement cut in local terms: counties will be paying a larger share of the administration bill even as the state has not offered counties help to offset the burden. Jackson County and Swain County are among the counties dealing with that added pressure.
October 2027 and $140 million
The next larger change arrives in October 2027, when North Carolina could be responsible for paying $140 million in SNAP benefit costs for the first time. Since the program began, the federal government has paid 100% of SNAP benefit costs, so the 2027 shift would move the state into a new role in the financing structure.
The change reflects increased focus on the state error rate. An error is considered an underpayment or overpayment greater than $48. For county leaders, the Oct. 1 reimbursement cut is the first budget pressure point; for state leaders, October 2027 is the larger cost shift still ahead.
For counties, the immediate task is to rebuild budgets around a smaller federal share and a larger local share. For residents, the benefit program itself stays in place, but the payment burden moves farther down to the county level.
