By Lynn Hatter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-882185.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – The state's budget has gotten so tight that some government offices have been reduced to counting paper clips. The move is being pushed by Alex Sink, Florida's Chief Financial Officer.
Sink has ordered a spending freeze on new office supplies, and says her department has already found a surplus of extra materials simply by emptying out desks and cabinets. According to the CFO, every pen has a price, and binder clips are like loose change that quickly adds up.
In clearing out the Financial Services offices, Sink said her team found "402,419 paper clips, 17,425 pens, 37,601 binder clips. We only have about 25-hundred people working here."
The CFO says if the state of Florida adopts this same policy, office supply spending could be cut by 30-percent and would save taxpayers over 14-million dollars. That's a lot of paper clips.