By the numbers
$5,504: Average car allowance per year for 12 area city managers
3: City managers who receive a car (Centerville, Kettering, Oakwood)
$120,559: Average city manager salary
Source: Fairborn survey of 15 city manager contracts
Car allowances or access to city-owned vehicles are commonplace not only for city managers but for other city administrators as well, data obtained by the Dayton Daily News revealed.
City officials, though, caution that in order to fairly compare car allowances for city managers, a closer look at each individual contract is necessary.
According to a city manager contract survey done last month by the city of Fairborn, all 15 municipalities that responded give their respective city manager either a car allowance or provide a vehicle.
The average of the 12 who give an allowance is $5,504 per year, while Centerville, Kettering and Oakwood provide a car. The average city manager salary is $120,559.
“It’s a component of the compensation package, and it’s a mixed bag out there,” Oakwood City Manager Norbert Klopsch said. “You really have to dig down and look at the big picture. And the best that I can tell, we’re on the conservative end of it. We’re not doing anything that’s not common within the way cities and townships operate.”
Fairborn recently has been scrutinized by a number of residents for giving city officials car allowances as well as access to city-owned vehicles.
City Manager Deborah McDonnell addressed the topic at month’s town hall meeting and referenced the survey, which did not include Fairborn.
McDonnell ($5,000 per year) is one of seven Fairborn administrators who receive a car allowance.
A total of $19,400 in car allowances is budgeted for 2012.
“Each community has to make their own decision as to what the right value is to offer someone as far as compensation for their own vehicle,” McDonnell said. “We are consistent with what other communities do.”
Kettering City Manager Mark Schwieterman is one of three city officials, along with the fire chief and police chief, who receive a car.
There also are seven directors who each get a $375 monthly car allowance, an annual cost of $31,500.
“I don’t think our policies differ from most cities,” Schwieterman said. “Our directors are on the road quite a bit during the day. While they aren’t 24/7 jobs, they are required to work evenings and do some other things. We’ve found that a car allowance is not only effective, but a little more efficient than actually having vehicles for them.”
Since the survey, Huber Heights has done away with a car allowance after Jim Borland took over as city manager for Gary Adams, who resigned last month. Adams received a $6,000 annual car allowance — the only city employee to have one.
Huber Heights city government employees have eight city-owned vehicles at their disposal, and even if they use their own car, rarely do they apply for mileage reimbursement.
“If they need a car to perform their job during the day, we need to provide that tool,” said Donnie Jones, the city’s finance director. “Most people who use their own car don’t put in for mileage. No one is expected to use their own car for free. We wouldn’t want that and that’s not fair. Quite frankly, for the few dollars you might get for a reimbursement, it isn’t worth filling out the paperwork to get it.”
Brookville City Manager John Wright also doesn’t receive a car allowance but is assigned a vehicle during working hours that he uses strictly for business.
“It’s reasonable,” Wright said. “If an employee is required to travel, even around town, to perform their job, they should be provided a vehicle. Whether it’s a city-owned vehicle or a vehicle allowance, it’s up to each individual city. Each city operates differently.”
Riverside City Manager Bryan Chodkowski is the only city employee who gets an annual car allowance, which is $4,800. For city employees, trips over 75 miles have to be requested in advance, while there are two staff members who receive reimbursements totaling no more than $500 a year.
The city owns about 45 vehicles, including three for city hall, for its 100 full- and part-time employees.
“We’re fortunate enough because we’re a small organization,” Chodkowski said. “We share vehicles amongst departments.”
Vandalia has budgeted $20,400 this year for car allowances for five employees — $6,000 for City Manager Rob Anderson and $3,600 for four other administrators.
The city, though, has a rule in place that administrators who receive car allowances aren’t permitted to drive city-owned vehicles. Those who don’t get an allowance have access to one of the 98 city-owned vehicles.
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