Columbia, S.C. - A new partnership begins today between two State Constitutional Officers, State Treasurer Converse Chellis and Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers. In a continued effort to explore ways of saving tax dollars and making government work more efficiently and

effectively, the State Treasurer’s Office and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture are merging their Human Resource Departments, reducing staff and saving thousands of taxpayer dollars.

"Beginning today, we are changing the way state government thinks about conducting its very basic operations," said Treasurer Converse Chellis.

“This partnership is a small step in reducing the size of state government, but it’s a giant step forward for taxpayers,” said Commissioner Hugh Weathers. “When government works together, the taxpayers win.”

The suggested number of Human Resource staff is one per hundred employees. Combining this

administrative function between the two agencies, Commissioner Weathers and Treasurer Chellis are reducing the number of staff while improving the quality of services by hiring qualified professionals to oversee the needs of the workforce.

The two agencies are located in the same building and will be utilizing the "best practices" of each office to ensure that the new joint Human Resource Department will work efficiently to benefit the agencies.

During the past year, each of the two agencies has found ways to achieve tax dollar savings.

Treasurer Chellis cut waste in his office, then cut his budget by $100,000 annually. Commissioner Weathers initiated a private public partnership solution for the new State Farmers Market, reducing the state's costs by over $20 million.

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