Arapahoe County could face millions in SNAP error costs under proposed plan

Arapahoe County staff told commissioners Sept. 15 that a proposed state cost-sharing plan could leave the county responsible for about $6.1 million in federal costs tied to payment errors in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The estimate assumes Colorado would cover 60% of a federal reduction in its SNAP allocation and counties would cover 40%, a county briefing to commissioners said. Commissioners took no action at the informational study session.

The briefing estimated that a 10% reduction would cut Colorado’s roughly $1.4 billion SNAP allocation by about $140 million. Counties would collectively pay about $56 million, with Arapahoe’s estimated 11% share of the state caseload producing the $6.1 million obligation. Staff also discussed a possible cost of about $10 million under a higher penalty tier.

Federal law enacted in 2025 sets SNAP benefit cost shares beginning in federal fiscal year 2028: 5% for payment-error rates from 6% to below 8%, 10% from 8% to below 10% and 15% at 10% or higher, the law says.

The latest federal table lists Colorado’s fiscal 2025 payment-error rate at 10.09%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That rate would fall in the 15% tier if it is used for fiscal 2028. The law allows Colorado to choose its fiscal 2025 or fiscal 2026 rate; the fiscal 2026 rate was not yet available in the records reviewed.

Colorado law requires the state to pass federal SNAP monetary sanctions through to counties, but does not establish a fixed 60%-40% split. It requires the state, counties and other parties to agree on a method and formula and limits a county’s responsibility to costs attributable to its performance and activities within its control, the Colorado Revised Statutes provide.

County staff also disputed how payment errors are assigned. A State Quality Assurance sample of 78 Arapahoe cases found 13 with errors, including 64 counted against the county and one pending client cooperation, the county’s comparison report said. The report said $2,686 in benefits were issued incorrectly out of $25,945 reviewed, a 10.34% dollar-based error rate. It attributed 5.42 percentage points to agency errors and 4.92 points to client errors.

The county said some errors classified as agency mistakes involved inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by clients. Staff said Arapahoe has asked to participate in a pilot allowing it to use The Work Number employment and income-verification service for SNAP checks, but the request was still awaiting an opinion from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office at the time of the study session.