Recently retired Union City Police Chief Richard Molinari will receive over $261,000 from the city over the next year-and-a-half as compensation for unused sick and vacation time.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Molinari announced his retirement on Friday, November 16th, though his retirement wasn’t officially in the books until December 1st.
Information obtained by HCV through an Open Public Records Request indicates that Molinari, a 30-year veteran of the department when he retired, he is owed a payout of $261,350.82 by July 3rd, 2020.
He was already paid $18,000 on December 7th and will be owed one lump sum worth $121,675.40 on July 5th, 2019, as well as another check for that same amount on July 3rd, 2020.
The Union City Clerk’s Office said that the tallies included both sick and vacation time (the latter which is capped), but they did not have the specific breakdowns of how many days and/or hours Molinari was owed.
By Hudson County standards, Molinari’s payout is not particularly expensive.
Former Jersey City Police Chief Philip Zacche (who later received probation for a no-show off-duty security detail) was owed $513,000 for unused time, while ex-Bayonne Police Chief Drew Niekrasz received a payout of just over $291,000.
Nichelle Luster was sworn in as Molinari’s replacement on Friday, making her the first female police chief in both Union City and Hudson County.
