AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The city of Augusta is spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to rent office space for municipal workers.
City Finance Department records show the city is budgeted to spend $660,470 on rent this year. That's more than Augusta spent on rent a decade ago, despite the city having a municipal building with three vacant floors and a half-dozen surplus buildings being sold at auction.
Nearly 83 percent of the city's rent payments are going to three landlords who are each getting paid more $176,000.
Rick Acree, Augusta's deputy director for facilities maintenance, says the city has been cutting back on rental space and is spending less than it did five years ago.
(Associated Press)