Louisiana government auditing office sounds the budget alarm

The head of a nonpartisan legislative office that digs into the spending of state and local government agencies warned state lawmakers Tuesday that he's teetering on the financial edge.

Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said he's eating into his agency's reserves even as he continues to shrink staff, and lawmakers diverted $2 million from those reserves last month to help plug a state deficit.

Purpera's message to the Legislative Audit Advisory Council was direct: Cuts are threatening those that find waste and fraud that can help balance the budget as the state is pinching pennies.

"Ultimately, if we don't find some funding mechanism, I can get through another year and we're going to be in real bad shape for the office," Purpera told the council.

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