How much do city employees make in Paso Robles, Atascadero? See top salaries
How much do city employees earn in Paso Robles and Atascadero?
Fire officials in both North County cities outearn their peers in other government agencies by a significant margin, according to an analysis of public employees’ salary records by The Tribune.
Police chiefs, city managers and public works directors also earn some of the highest salaries in Paso Robles and Atascadero.
In total, Atascadero and Paso Robles spent close to $20 million on pay for 100 of the cities’ highest earners.
The Tribune reached out to cities across San Luis Obispo County for the most recent compensation data available, shifting through documents to determine the highest paid public employees in 2025.
Here’s who earned the most in salaries and overtime — and how much they made:
How much did Atascadero pay city employees in 2025?
In 2025, the city of Atascadero spent more than $8.5 million on salaries for its top 50 highest paid employees.
Employees with the Atascadero Fire Department accounted for the biggest chunk of that budget.
A total of 20 employees in that department collectively earned $3.6 million in 2025. The fire department had 31 employees listed in its compensation records.
The city paid 18 Atascadero Police Department employees a total of $2.8 million.
Atascadero’s city managers, administrative services directors and economic development manager earned a total of $1.1 million.
Who collected the most overtime pay in Atascadero?
Atascadero Fire Department employees earned the most overtime pay in 2025, with 10 agency workers collectively making more than $500,000 in extra wages, according to public records.
In fact, overtime pay accounted for more than 30% of the annual earnings of six people employed by the fire department.
For example, fire engineer Andrew Hawkins earned $79,168 in overtime pay, almost 40% of his total annual earnings.
More than 36% of fire engineer Zachariah Jackson’s annual earnings — $181,288 — came from overtime compensation, which equaled $66,671 in 2025.
About 35% of fire engineer Matthew Madrigal’s wages, $171,162, was earned while working overtime.
The city of Atascadero did not say how many hours of overtime each employee worked in 2025.
Which government workers earn the most in Atascadero?
According to 2025 public records, these 10 Atascadero city employees earned the most in total pay:
- City manager James Lewis: $276,874
- Fire Chief Casey Bryson: $266,701
- Police Chief Saniel Suttles: $227,392
- Fire Capt. Thomas Birkenfeld: $212,392
- Administrative services director Jeri Rangel: $206,459
- Fire Capt. James Netz: $201,747
- Fire engineer Andrew Hawkins: $200,201
- Public works director Nicholas Debar: $197,775
- Fire Capt. Andrew Luera: $196,363
- Fire Capt. Brandon Roberts: $195,706
How well do city jobs pay in Paso Robles?
Salaries, overtime pay, lump sum pay and other wages for the 50 highest paid city employees in Paso Robles totaled $10.5 million in 2025, according to public records.
Of those employees, 44.8% worked for Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services.
The agency’s 23 top earners collectively made $4.9 million in 2025, including $1 million in overtime pay.
Salaries for 14 employees with the Paso Robles Police Department accounted for more than $2.8 million in total pay.
Other high-earning city employees in Paso Robles worked in departments including public works, human resources and finance.
How much overtime did Paso Robles city employees work?
In Paso Robles, the 10 city employees who earned the most overtime pay in 2025 each earned between $46,000 and $93,000 just from working extra hours.
They collectively earned $648,436 in compensation for overtime.
Paso Robles Fire and Emergency technician David Cross ranked No. 1 in terms of overtime pay, according to public records.
More than 46% of Cross’s annual wages —$92,701 — came from overtime.
Cross racked up the most overtime hours of the top 50 highest paid Paso Robles city employee in 2025, logging a total of 1,201 extra hours — equivalent to 50 days — at a rate of $77.17 per hour.
The other nine Paso Robles city employees earned most overtime compensation worked for Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services as well.
Fire Capt. Roger Colombo, earned $91,250 in overtime in 2025, about 34% of his annual earnings, while fire Capt. Joel Platter made $77,473 in overtime.
Colombo logged 974 overtime hours in 2025, while Platter worked 813 hours of overtime that year.
In Paso Robles, fire Capt. Charles Brown had the highest overtime pay rate, at $164 per hour. He reported 69 overtime hours and had an annual total wages of $188,233 in 2025.
Which city employees are paid the most in Paso Robles?
According to Paso Robles’ records, these city officials made the most amount of money in total in 2025:
- Deputy Fire Chief Randall Harris: $299,635
- Police Cmdr. Tod Rehner: $297,821
- City manager Christopher Huot: $291,588
- Battalion Chief and Fire Marshal Brian Lewis: $275,284
- Capt. Roger Colombo: $268,699
- Capt. Joel Platter: $252,864
- Executive manager -safety Jonathan Stornetta: $252,616
- Executive manager -fire Damian Nord: $247,425
- City manager Ty Lewis: $245,457
Two city managers were listed in Paso Robles employee compensation records for 2025.
Lewis went on medical leave in August 2024 and filed a $2.275 million complaint against the city accusing Councilman Chris Bausch of harassment and creating a hostile workplace, The Tribune previously reported.
The city reached a settlement with Lewis in January 2025, paying him $200,000 in damages. He then formally retired.
Huot, who served as interim city manager in Lewis’ absence, officially took over the role in April 2025.
