Brick police chief retiring with $59,000 payout (and that’s way smaller than some)

The outgoing chief of police in Brick will collect nearly $131,691.04 a year in pension payments off his $186,993 salary.

Chief Nils Bergquist is leaving office on Dec. 1 according to a statement posted on the department's Facebook page. He's staying in Brick with his wife, Donna.

According to the Asbury Park Press, Bergquist has 562 hours of unused vacation time left. Unless he uses additional time before retirement, the 59-year-old will be paid out about $59,000 per year.

He's already been paid out for 125 hours of unused sick time — the most allowed by state law. He collected $32,960 in 2009, $32,858.97 in 2010 and $32,041.50 in 2011, according to the report.

The vacation payout may seem large — but it pales by comparison to some others in New Jersey, according to various reports.

Earlier this year, Andover's police chief walked away with a $75,000 payout for unused time. Egg Harbor made smaller payouts to two retiring police chiefs over the last five years — but between the two, still paid more than $90,000. North Arlington's police chief left this year with a payout of more than $200,000. Last year, Middletown reportedly approved a $250,000 payout for its retiring chief to pay for time accumulated over 40 years.

And Lodi's $342,000 payout to a chief in 2014 was so big the municipality had to borrow funds and pay him in two installments.

Bergquist's nearly $132,000 pension isn't unusual either. A 2012 report by Watchdog.org found more than 1,200 New Jersey public retirees were getting more than $100,000 per year.