Thanks to tough economic times, Riverside County can't afford to spare a square.
Two years ago, the vast majority of the county's buildings switched from one-ply to two-ply toilet paper.
"When (county's supervisor Jeff Stone) made that change from one-ply to two-ply, it was very well received," said Verne Lauritzen, Stone's chief of staff.
In the words of Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times, "This was good, and the people were happy."
But then, things got a little out of hand, the Times reported:
The county's 10 elected officials, the executive leadership and their staff members were being treated to Angel Soft four-ply toilet tissue.
The four-ply paper costs less than a third of a penny more per sheet compared to two-ply, the newspaper reported. But those costs add up. Riverside County spent $270,000 on toilet paper in 2008.
Business
And so now, the glory days of four-ply toilet paper are coming to an end.
"If we can save money, we will be switching," county spokesman Tom Freeman told the Times. "We've all taken a 10 percent pay cut. We stopped the process of people taking the government cars home, that type of thing. This is being taken very seriously."
