AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Augusta’s Finance Department is still operating, but under new management.
“To have this consultant come in, we got the Deputy Administrator coming in because she was a big part of the budget, she knows numbers and that’s what we’re doing. It’s not a patch job,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Wayne Guilfoyle.
Commissioners are handing the job of running the department to an Atlanta-based CPA firm at a cost of $32,500 a month.
“We got to do what we got to do. If it be a consultant, then we got to have a consultant. We got to have somebody in place,” said Commissioner Tony Lewis.
In September of 2024, commissioners forced out long-time Finance Director Donna Williams making her Deputy Tim Schroer the Interim Director.
But he announced his resignation in January, effective last week, after not getting the full-time job.
“That job opening has been available for quite some time. Tim, love him to death, he interviewed for the job. The votes were not there to hire him,” said Commissioner Brandon Garrett.
Augusta has spent the last seven months advertising for a Chief Financial Officer with no success, forcing the need to turn the Finance department over to a consulting firm.
“You’re going to have an outside firm making in about six months more than what a Director in that department would make in a year, but we continue to say we don’t have the money to do things, so something is not adding up,” said Commissioner Jordan Johnson.
City leaders say the consulting firm will only be operating Finance until a CFO is hired, but so far, for that’s been easier said than done.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.