Payroll Project: Huber Heights’ highest paid employees in 2023

The city of Huber Heights paid 64 employees over $100,000 in 2023, according to the Payroll Project, an annual reporting project from the Dayton Daily News.

The highest paid city employee in 2023 was Bryan Chodkowski, the city’s assistant city manager. In May 2024, Chodkowski left his position at Huber Heights to take the same position in the city of Kettering. He started with Kettering on June 17. His base salary in 2023 was $152,883, while he base salary with Kettering is $175,011.

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Huber Heights’ current city manager is John Russel, who in 2023 was an administrative fire battalion chief. He was appointed to his current position in July 2024 after serving as the interim city manager beginning in May 2024. He was appointed interim city manager after former city manager Rick Dzik was put on administrative leave and later removed from his position after pleading guilty to an OVI charge while driving a city vehicle.

The voting and taxpaying public is the employer for government agencies. As with any other employer, the public has not just a right but a responsibility to know how much its employees are paid in the interest of good stewardship.

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Go here for a searchable database of state and local government pay across our region.

The highest paid Huber Heights employees last year were:

1. Bryan Chodkowski, assistant city manager: $189,029

2. Brian Carr, police lieutenant $178,789

3. Kenneth Stieffel, fire battalion chief: $170,976

4. Gregory Baumle, fire battalion chief: $169,038

5. Michael Muhl, fire battalion chief: $162,099

6. Russell Bergman, city engineer: $142,103

7. John Russell, administrative fire battalion chief: $139,858

8. Mark Lightner, chief of police: $138,597

9. James Bell, finance director: $138,344