An eye-popping payout for Saanich’s police chief has prompted new criticism from watchdogs who say local taxpayers are being ripped off.

Chief Bob Downie is being paid nearly $380,000 in severance even though he’s staying on the job.

The deal came about when Downie told the police board in the summer that he plans to retire in the next three years.

The conversation around his retirement led to a change from his status as a municipal employee to a contracted one, meaning he’s being paid a salary and severance simultaneously.

Downie was hired back on a temporary contract with a salary that’s roughly $10,000 higher than his previous one.

But the issue to many is that he’s not only taking a payout now for years of banked time and retirement allowances – it’s also hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“When I was with Vancouver Police Department, we had to pull in the amount of people who had to bank overtime and start to pay them out,” said former West Vancouver Police Chief Kash Heed.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said the payout is way out of line for a police chief in a relatively small town.

“In some cases, if you add up the severance, the pension and what’s actually being paid through his salary, it’s comparable to the chief of police for big American cities like Los Angeles and New York City – and this is Saanich,” said Kris Sims, a spokesperson for the B.C. chapter of the CTF.

Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell agrees people have reason to be concerned with the payout price, but added the contract is a tool that helps cap that payout.

“I’ve had to find a way to take this cost and figure out a way to manage it,” he said. “So I haven’t been able to manage this inherited cost, but what I have been able to do is manage is the salary and the timeline, and that’s what the board has done with this contract.”

Atwell said it shouldn’t make a difference when the chief takes his payout because it would be the same cost now or later.

CTV News reached out to Downie for comment, but officials have directed all questions to Atwell, the head of the Saanich Police Board.

With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Yvonne Raymond