BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The price tag has nearly doubled for Gov. Bobby Jindal's hiring of an outside consulting firm to recommend new ways to balance the state budget.

The contract for Alvarez & Marsal was worth $4.2 million when the New York-based company was hired in December. But the contract since has been bumped up to $7.4 million, according to the Legislative Fiscal Office.

In June, the consulting firm's report outlined proposals to save the state $2.7 billion over five years, either by cutting costs or increasing state revenue.

The fiscal office says the administration's contract costs increased because Alvarez & Marsal is helping state agencies to implement its recommendations.

Costs for the consultant could grow even further, because the contract doesn't end until December 2016 and new tasks could be added.

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