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How much do city employees earn in San Luis Obispo? What about Morro Bay?
In both cities, firefighters ranked among the highest paid public employees in terms of salaries, overtime pay and other wages in 2025, according to an analysis of employment compensation records by The Tribune.
In 2025, police personnel and city managers also earned some of the highest wages among city employees in Morro Bay and SLO.
Together the cities spent close to $20 million in total compensation for the 100 highest earners in Morro Bay and SLO.
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 how much SLO and Morro Bay paid their top earners in salaries, overtime and other pay:
How much did SLO spend on government wages?
In 2025, the top 50 highest paid city employees in San Luis Obispo collectively earned $12.1 million, according to public records.
About 78% of the top-earning employees work for two city agencies: the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department and the San Luis Obispo Police Department.
The city Fire Department had 23 officials in the city who earned between $203,000 and $330,000 in 2025, public records show.
The city spent $5.7 million in total to pay those 23 employees, according to public records.
A total of 16 employees at the SLO Police Department ranked among the top 50 highest paid city workers in SLO, collectively earning nearly $3.7 million in total wages.
Eleven employees in other city departments including the city attorney and officials in the Administration, Public Works and Parks and Recreation collectively made $2.7 million in compensation.
Who earned the most overtime pay in SLO?
Out of 908 workers employed by the city of San Luis Obispo, 356 collected overtime pay in 2025, public records show.
The 10 city employees who earned the most overtime pay all work for the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department, collectively spending more than $1.1 million, according to the city’s public records.
Fire Capt. Jason Pratt collected the most overtime pay - $160,734 - which was more than double his annual salary, $140,902. He also had the second-highest total pay of any city employee.
Two other city fire officials collected more wages in overtime than in their annual salaries.
Firefighter Dan Hutslar made nearly $60,000 more in overtime pay than $100,548 in his annual salary.
About 51% of fire engineer Matthew Palkow’s total pay came from working overtime. He earned $133,190 in overtime pay in 2025.
Fire Capt. Steven Gonzalez and fire Capt. Matthew Jeckell both earned more than $120,000 in overtime pay.
Hutslar, Gonzalez and Jeckell were among the highest paid SLO employees overall.
Who are the 10 highest paid city employees in SLO?
According to public employee compensation records, these were the 10 highest paid city employees in San Luis Obispo in 2025:
- City attorney Jacquelyn Dietrick: $327,679
- Fire Capt. Jason Pratt: $327,219
- Fire Capt. Steven Gonzalez: $311,593
- City manager Whitney McDonald: $307,901
- Fire Battalion Chief John MacDonald: $301,451
- Fire Battalion Chief Ray Hais-Doyle: $291,453
- Fire Capt. Matthew Jeckell: $291,304
- Firefighter Dane Hutslar: $282,327
- Deputy Police Chief Brian Amoroso: $279,494
- Police Chief Richard Scott: $278,225
Which city agencies pay the most in Morro Bay?
According to public records, the Morro Bay Fire Department and Morro Bay Police Department accounted for 28 of the top 50 highest earners working for the city in Morro Bay in 2025.
The Fire Department spent a little under $2.5 million in total wages for 14 employees, while the Police Department spent $2.2 million to pay the same number of workers.
Ten employees working for the Public Works and Community Development departments earned $1.3 million in total in 2025, while four employees of the Harbor Department collected $524,000 in total wages.
What Morro Bay employees earned the most overtime pay?
Out of the 50 highest-paid city employees in Morro Bay, about 60% collected overtime pay in 2025, according to public records.
The top 10 employees who earned the most overtime pay in 2025 all worked for the fire department.
Overtime pay accounted for more than 30% of the total annual wages for half of those city firefighters.
Fire Capt. Michael Talmadge earned the most overtime pay of any city employee in 2025, $77,715.
Talmadge had the third-highest salary of all city employees working for Morro Bay.
Fire Capt. Travis Hasch and Capt. Samuel Watson were among the highest paid city employees in Morro Bay in 2025. They also collected the highest amounts of overtime pay of any city employee, with Hasch making $75,501 and Watson earning $56,303.
Who are top-earning city employees in Morro Bay?
According to Morro Bay’s employment compensation records, these employees earned the highest total wages in 2025:
- City manager Yvonne Kimball: $311,274
- Fire Capt. Travis Hasch: $224,869
- Fire Capt. Michael Talmadge: $219,918
- Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal Matthew Vierra: $219,451
- Fire Chief Daniel McCrain: $212,284
- Police Chief Amy Watkins: $211,651
- Police Sgt. Nicole Taylor: $210,202
- Public works director Gregory Kwolek: $205,042
- Police Sgt. Gene Stuart: $201,214
- Fire engineer Samuel Watson: $184,952
