FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — More than 3,000 civilians working for the Army in southeast Georgia are bracing for a painful cut to their paychecks expected to cost the workers roughly $10 million overall.
Civilian employees of Fort Stewart and neighboring Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah will begin taking one furlough day per week next month and continue through September. That means they'll lose 20 percent of their pay for nearly three months because of the automatic federal budget cuts that kicked in months ago.
Casey Taylor-Racinelli was among 100 people attending a Friday town-hall meeting on the furloughs at Fort Stewart. She's a physician's assistant and among those facing 11 unpaid days off.
Taylor-Racinelli says her family is already tightening its spending on groceries and air-conditioning. She expects to lose $1,000 each month.