When Toronto's top cop Chief Bill Blair leaves his post next April, he will receive another full year's salary plus benefits -- a severance package which Mayor Rob Ford has described as "pretty steep."

The hefty payout is part of a clause in Blair's contract which states that if he asks for another term and is turned down by the police board, he will be compensated with a full year's salary. According to the Toronto Sun, that amounts equals to more than $367,000, plus $3,006 in benefits.

Last Wednesday, the Toronto Police Service Board decided not to renew Blair's employment contract for a third term. Sources told CTV Toronto that six board members voted in favour of ousting Blair, while one voted to keep him on for another five years.

Blair, who has served as the police chief for nearly 10 years, will step down on April 25, 2015.

Under his watch, he has led the police force through a number of turbulent times, including the so-called Rob Ford "crack video" probe – an investigation which likely contributed to the rocky relationship between the two men.

On Monday, Ford said he was not impressed by the severance package.

"It's unfortunate. That's pretty steep," Ford told reporters while touring a recycling plant. "The average person does not get that."

Employment lawyer Howard Levitt seems to agree with the mayor, calling the payout a waste of taxpayers' money.

"People don't, in the private sector, have that (clause) written in their contract," he told CTV Toronto.

The Toronto Police Service Board will not comment on Blair's contract, saying that it is confidential.

A source told CTV Toronto, however, that the payout clause has been in place for a number of years for certain high-ranking police officers. The source also said that the clause was in place for a previous Toronto police chief.

Blair’s severance package is also not unique to the Toronto police force. Senior members of other public organizations have also been handed out large payouts upon their departure.

When former Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) CEO Eugene Jones vacated his post in April amid a scandal over the hiring and firing of staff, he received a settlement payment of $200,000. TCHC chair Bud Purves has previously said that the payout was a "mutual decision" between the board and Jones.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson