By DEVIN HEILMAN

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Most people who rely on food stamps in Idaho and throughout the nation will experience a dip in benefits beginning today.

The decrease, an annual cost-of-living adjustment, was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 28, but the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recently sent out reminders to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients, catching some off-guard.

Coeur d’Alene mom Kathy Gray was surprised when she received the notice. Her adult son, Cody, who has autism and lives in a residential habilitation home with three other special-needs individuals, relies on SNAP benefits. Gray said she is concerned because their house is losing a total of $120 each month. Cody’s benefits will decrease by $40 a month.

“Luckily our guys have parents who can support them, but there are other houses I know of where the clients don’t have as much support,” she said. “They’re going to lose that money toward food, and that’s the really sad part.”

The wording in the notice, that “the adjustment included a decrease in the amount of utility allowance applied to food stamps programs,” added to the confusion.

“I don’t understand that at all,” Kathy said. “Utilities have gone up, so I don’t know why they’re doing that.”

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service office said the decline in benefits for fiscal year 2018, which starts Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2018, is because of the “lower cost of food in the marketplace.”

“SNAP is vital to the nation’s fight against hunger and USDA is committed to administering the program under the law,” Jesus Mendoza Jr., USDA Food and Nutrition Service regional administrator for the western region, said Wednesday in an email to The Press.

“It was designed by Congress to expand and contract with economic conditions. The price of food has declined, and the formula set by Congress requires an adjustment of SNAP benefits so that food-buying power in household budgets remains steady.”

Roughly 14,000 people, about 9 percent of the population in Kootenai County, use SNAP benefits, making Kootenai the third-highest county in the state for SNAP enrollment. Nearly 164,000 Idahoans depend on the program to help supplement their grocery needs.

Post Falls Food Bank executive director Leslie Orth said her food bank has known about the decrease for a while, and they’re prepared to serve a higher volume of people if necessary.

“Everyone’s going to feel it. They’re used to that $20 extra a month. You take that away and they’re going to want to fill that gap,” she said. “I would imagine that the pressure on us will be heightened. We’re definitely up for it.”

She said people in our area probably won’t be as hard hit as other parts of the state thanks to the security of resources like the market at the Post Falls Food Bank, but “if you’re not in this area, absolutely people will be affected.”

“This is happening, but the reality isn’t in front of them yet,” Orth said. “We have a disproportionately high number of families needing assistance. The question is, ‘How do we get them to a place where they can provide for themselves?’ We’re here to fill that gap until their situation can change.”

Chris Smith, a public information officer with the IDHW, said some years the benefits go up, and some years they go down.

“We have been taking calls from people,” he said. “This happens every year when there’s the COLA adjustment. Nobody seems to call when they go up.”

The last food stamp cost-of-living adjustment occurred in 2015 when maximum benefits increased from $632 to $649 per month for a family of four and from $189 to $194 per month for an individual. The last time benefits dipped was in fiscal year 2014, when they decreased from $200 to $189 for individuals and from $668 to $632 per family of four that October.

The benefits are determined by many factors, including household size, income and applicable deductions.

"It's a matrix the federal government does. They want to spend taxpayer money wisely and not where there's not a direct need," Smith said. "As cost of living changes, the federal government has the responsibility to make those changes, and it's our responsibility to deliver those benefits.

"I think this is going to be tough for some people."

According to the USDA, if no changes have been made to household incomes, then all current SNAP recipients (except for in Hawaii) will experience a decrease in benefits, but the size of the decrease depends on the size of the household.

For information on SNAP eligibility requirements, visit fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility. A pre-screening tool is available at snap-step1.usda.gov/fns/