INDIANAPOLIS | Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock isn't keeping the change.

The treasurer's office finished the fiscal year without spending 3.2 percent of its $870,106 budget and will transfer the $28,189.17 in savings to the state's main checking account.

"I have one of the smallest offices in state government and therefore one of the smallest budgets appropriated to it by the Indiana General Assembly," Mourdock said Thursday in a statement. "The fact my office would return any of its appropriated funds back to the state's general fund, let alone 3.2 percent of its budget, is a huge accomplishment and speaks to my staff's continued commitment to conserve Hoosier tax dollars."

The treasurer's office accrued the savings by seeking the best deals on everything from office supplies to employee travel, said Mourdock spokesman Christopher Conner. He said the office was fully staffed in the last state budget year, which ended July 30.

When tax collections began to slip last year, Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered state agencies to withhold spending 5 percent of annual budgets. The move accounted for about $90 million of the $321 million annual surplus state officials announced earlier this month.

Separately elected state officeholders, including Mourdock, were not subject to the governor's belt tightening. Daniels has ordered agencies under his control to hold back 7 percent of their budgets this fiscal year, which runs through June 2009.

Legislators will begin to craft a new two-year state budget when the General Assembly convenes in January.

The task is expected to be a difficult one given the economic climate and a recent property tax overhaul that will shift about $1 billion in local funding responsibilities to state government.