Augusta, GA

Cuts, layoffs possible as Augusta leaders scramble to balance budget

Published

1 month ago

December 10, 2025

Cuts, layoffs possible as Augusta leaders scramble to balance budget

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta city leaders face one final task before the end of the year: balancing a budget that remains nearly $7 million short.

City commissioners say cuts, layoffs, department restructuring, and possible tax increases are all still on the table as they work to meet the state-mandated deadline of Dec. 31.

Multiple solutions needed

District 5 Commissioner Don Clark said the budget gap will require a comprehensive approach.

“It’s not gonna be a one-tiered solution. It’s gonna have to be a multi-tiered approach,” Clark said. “It’s gonna have to result in some additional cuts. It’s gonna have to result in some additional efficiencies. It’s gonna definitely have to result in some additional increases to the millage rate as well.”

Mayor Garnett Johnson said a work efficiency study could help identify where the city can operate more effectively.

“I’ve always said that a work efficiency study is perhaps in the best interest of the city,” the mayor said. “While we’ve done salary-related studies, we’ve never had the opportunity to do a work efficiency study to see if we have the right people in the right departments.”

Examining city operations

The study would examine whether work is being duplicated and help right-size staff so services like grass cutting, litter control and maintenance can be delivered consistently across the city.

“I think this action next year, if we take on this action of evaluating the departments, it will give us an opportunity to see where there’s additional cost savings to be made,” Johnson said.

District 10 Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle expressed hope that other commissioners would present solutions at the next meeting.

“I don’t want to go there. I was hoping my colleagues who’ve been quiet would have a solution come next Tuesday, and if not, it’s gonna go back on the table,” Guilfoyle said.

Balancing efficiency and services

The mayor said additional cuts could be made through efficiency rather than eliminating jobs or services.

“I think there’s an opportunity to make additional cuts. I think we can be a little bit more lean and a little bit more efficient. Not necessarily mean cutting jobs, but not necessarily mean cutting services, just through efficiency,” the mayor said.

Guilfoyle said department directors and elected officials should find ways to cut waste while retaining employees.

“Any department directors or any elected officials, if the budget has to be cut more, you’ll find a way of doing it while retaining your employees. It just, you cut out the waste,” Guilfoyle said.

Clark said the decisions will set the tone for how Augusta operates going forward.

“We’re gonna balance the budget, but we’re also setting the tone for how Augusta does business,” Clark said.

The mayor said the path forward requires compromise.

“The path forward is just a compromise. It’s a combination of both,” the mayor said.

Commissioners will meet Dec. 16 to work on balancing the budget. State law requires them to complete the task by the end of the year. Both the mayor and several commissioners said they are confident it will be done.

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Augusta, GA

Finding Solutions: Augusta nurse opens new end-of-life care facility

Published

12 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

Finding Solutions: Augusta nurse opens new end-of-life care facility

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A hospice nurse is opening Augusta’s first inpatient hospice home, giving families a new option for end-of-life care.

Stacia Sirull, a hospice nurse, is opening the Augusta Inpatient Hospice Home. The facility will feature hummingbird decorations throughout.

“My sister passed away a couple of years ago. She died in a hospice house in Kentucky and loved humming birds. When I decided to do this I was like we are just going to put humming birds everywhere,” Sirull said.

Limited options for Augusta families

Augusta families facing end-of-life care currently have limited options. The new facility will serve as an alternative.

“There are many times when I hear I don’t want to die at home. I don’t want leave here and leave the memory of this with my family and don’t want to stay here, or the other way around I don’t want my family member to die at home and have to remember that they were here in this house,” Sirull said.

Sirull said the facility gives people a comfortable option in a homey environment.

“Our slogan is your life, your journey, your choice. The reason we wrote it that way is because I want people to be able to make their own choice at the end of life and have those choices be respected,” she said.

Family shares experience

Krista Weigle’s mother was on hospice in Augusta in 2018. Weigle said her mother began needing more care than she and her sister could provide. Her sister lives in Statesboro, where there is an inpatient hospice home.

“We just felt so blessed to find that place and felt very comfortable with her being there and when she passed we knew we had done the right thing,” Weigle said.

Facility details and community support

The Augusta Inpatient Hospice Home will have six rooms added to the existing building. Sirull said there will always be one bed available for someone who doesn’t have the finances or insurance to cover the stay.

“No one should die alone, no one should die without support in their last days and not just support, but compassionate support,” she said.

Sirull said the community can help by donating hospital beds, blankets, quilts, bedside tables, kitchen items including pots and pans, and personal care items including diapers, wipes and shampoo.

Weigle said she’s happy to know a place she once needed is coming to Augusta.

“My only worry is that it won’t be big enough and once word gets around and people see what need it fills, there will need to be more places like this,” she said.

The Augusta Inpatient Hospice Home is a nonprofit organization set to open May 1.

Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

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Augusta, GA

FBI agents identify chemical used in Georgia acid attack

Published

24 hours ago

January 12, 2026

Press Room

FBI agents identify chemical used in Georgia acid attack

SAVANNAH, Ga. — The FBI agents have confirmed that they’ve identified the chemical used in a Georgia acid attack.

Just last month, Ashley Wasielewski was walking around Forsyth Park in Savannah when a man hiding in the shadows near Whitaker Street suddenly came out and attacked Wasielewski with an unknown chemical substance.

Despite the hardship she’s been through and that lies ahead, Ashley Wasielewski is smiling in a photo from her hospital bed.(Contributed)

Sources close to the investigation say that liquid melted through Wasielewski’s clothing and headphones and left her with severe burns.

On Friday, the FBI released that they now know what that substance was but are not releasing the name of the substance to the public at this time.

FBI officials say that SLED assisted and did the testing on behalf of the the organization.

Agents are also following up on leads now that the substance has been identified.

Just days after the attack, more than $260,000 had been raised for Wasielewski, who was recovering at a burn center in Augusta.

One of Ashley’s friends, Kristen Oddi organized a GoFundMe to help pay for Wasielewski’s extensive medical care.

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Augusta, GA

Another name joins Augusta mayor race

Published

1 day ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Augusta mayor race now has three candidates as another person has announced their candidacy.

Eric Gaines, who’s on the charter review committee and is a local real estate investor, announced on Sunday that he is running for mayor on Sunday.

He said in a Facebook post that his campaign is built on a simple idea: People before politics.

Transparent leadership you do not have to decode.
Accessible government that listens instead of lectures.
Decisions based on what actually improves lives not what protects careers.

“I’m not running because someone tapped me on the shoulder. I’m not running because a political machine told me it was my turn. And I’m definitely not running because I raised a mountain of cash behind closed doors,” he said.

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