To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Dan Makelky, Director, Human Services Department
Prepared By:
prepared
Bob Prevost, Deputy Director, Human Services Department
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presenter
Presenter: Bob Prevost, Deputy Director, Human Services Department
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Subject:
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1:45 PM *Potential Payment Error Rate Costs
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
DHS is providing information to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) on the current state of the SFY 2026-27 Payment Error Rate (PER) and potential costs associated with HR-1 penalties for Arapahoe County, the PER level for the State of Colorado and a potential cost sharing proposal for counties and the state.
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Alignment with Strategic Plan: Economic Resilience and Stability - Strengthen systems-level investments and partnerships that advance food security and essential human services to promote economic stability.
Background and Discussion: Due to changes resulting from HR-1, the Payment Error Rate (PER) for states that exceed 6% will come with a reduction of the SNAP allocation issued by the federal government. A 6-7.99% PER will result in a 5% reduction in the federal allocation, an 8% - 9.99% PER will result in a 10% reduction, and a 10% - 13.33% PER will result in a 15% reduction. In FFY 25-26, Colorado’s PER was 10.09%. The current FFY shows Colorado to be above 8% but below 10%. Colorado received approximately $1.4 billion for this FFY.
With a 10% penalty for Colorado’s PER, the state will receive approximately $140 million less in the SNAP allocation from the federal government. The state’s plan is to have the state cover 60% of the reduction in allocation, and the counties will need to cover the remaining 40%. This would represent approximately $56 million owed by counties, and Arapahoe County makes up approximately 11% of the state’s total caseload. Therefore, Arapahoe County’s share of the penalty would represent approximately $6.1 million. These numbers ...
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