The number of state boards and commissions in Louisiana has fallen to a total of 492 entities after peaking at 513 in 2004, legislative auditor Daryl Purpera said Aug. 20 in a report to lawmakers.
Spending by 443 of the 492 bodies cost the state $11.3 million over the past two fiscal years, Purpera said. State law requires the disclosure of salaries and per-diem payments as well as travel expenses, he said, but 44 of the boards and commissions did not provide information and others are inactive.
The 443 that did report said they spent a total of $6.5 million in fiscal 2012, including $2.7 million in salaries, $2.3 million in travel expenses, and $1.5 million of per-diem payments.
Fiscal 2011 payments included $2.1 million of board member travel expenses, $1.6 million in salaries, and $1.1 million in per-diem compensation. The report recommended the dissolution of five entities that were never fully organized or have disbanded.
