NC counties now paying more to help feed hungry people

North Carolina counties are now paying more for a federal program that helps some hungry people eat, as a law shifting more of the cost of the nutrition assistance program to states takes effect. 

One of the changes in the massive tax cut and social services cut bill Congress passed last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, makes states pick up 75% of the administrative costs for SNAP. The federal government had split the cost 50–50 for many years.

NC residents to go hungry, counties to pay more for SNAP under federal changes

North Carolina is one of the few states that has passed most of that expense on to counties, which are responsible for administering the program. 

The N.C. Association of County Commissioners estimated the administrative expenses are expected to cost counties an additional $52 million over nine months starting Oct. 1. The association asked the General Assembly to cover the cost increase. There was a late push among some Democratic legislators and health advocacy groups to have the state pick up the cost. All those efforts failed. 

As of June 2026, 1.2 million North Carolinians received SNAP benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Beginning next year, the state could shoulder even more SNAP costs under a provision of the same federal law. It charges states with high error rates more for SNAP benefits. Counties worry that the state will pass along those charges to them as well.

Starting Oct. 1, 2027, states with SNAP error rates above 6% must begin paying anywhere from 5% to 15% of the cost of benefits. 

According to the agriculture department, North Carolina’s error rate in 2025 was 7.36%. If that law had been in effect for 2025, the state would have had to pay 5% of the benefits cost. 

In its latest budget, the state legislature appropriated about $2.6 million toward reducing the error rate and integrating SNAP eligibility changes into the state’s electronic case management system.