BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State Alcohol and Tobacco Control Commissioner Troy Hebert says he expects to save $1 million budgeted to his agency, by trimming staff and making other cuts.
Hebert told The Advocate that he's on track to spend roughly 85 percent of his $6.5 million annual budget this year. He says the savings at his office can be returned to the treasury for other state needs.
Most of the savings come from personnel changes.
Since taking the job in November 2010, Hebert has eliminated positions, installed a time clock, stopped paying employees for their commutes and told desk workers to leave state vehicles at the office instead of driving them home at night. He used Global Positioning System devices to crack down on people getting paid for time not worked.