NORTH BERGEN -- Nicholas Sacco, who for more than three decades has worked as a North Bergen school administrator in addition to his posts as mayor and state senator, will retire from his $260,000 school job this year, his spokesman confirmed.



"Mayor Sacco will be retiring from the North Bergen Board of Education during this year," the mayor's spokesman, Phil Swibinski, said in an email. "However, no retirement date has yet been set. He plans to continue serving as Mayor of North Bergen and State Senator representing the 32nd District."



Sacco's title is director of elementary and secondary education, and he has also served as an elementary school principal, among other positions, over the course of a 49-year career in education.



Sacco, 70, hinted at his retirement late last year, when he and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise announced that North Bergen High School would be moving into a building now occupied by the county's High Tech High School, located in the township on 85th Street, off Tonnele Avenue.



But Sacco's mention of his eventual departure was largely overshadowed by word of the high school's move, scheduled for the 2019-2020 school year, which officials said would be the most significant educational initiative for the township since the opening the current high school on Kennedy Boulevard in 1961. Officials also said the move would save taxpayers more than $100 million compared to the cost of constructing a new school.

"I have one job left: this one," Sacco said during the Oct. 26 announcement. "I'm staying mayor, I'm staying senator. I'm giving up the school system this year. During the course of the year, I'll be leaving. But I leave only because I feel I've completed what I had to complete."

This week we announced that North Bergen will be getting a new High School for the 2019-2020 school year, thanks to an agreement to take over the current High Tech High School building. Not only will this be the most significant educational advance in the township since the high school opened in 1961, it will also save taxpayers over $100 million compared to the cost of building a new school. Watch this video to learn more about this exciting moment, and please SHARE it with your friends! Posted by Nicholas J. Sacco on Wednesday, October 26, 2016

According to a survey by NJ Advance Media in June, Sacco's school salary of $259,550 was the second highest among all public employees in Hudson County. The only higher salary went to Sacco's district colleague, North Bergen High School Principal Paschal Tennaro, at $259,990.

But Sacco, a Democrat, would likely rank as Hudson's highest paid public employee when counting his annual salaries of $15,000 as mayor and $49,000 as state senator from the 32nd Legislative, which would put his combined annual income at $323,550.



That kind of triple dipping is no longer permissible under a 2007 law barring legislators from holding another elected office. But Sacco was among 19 lawmakers who were grandfathered in when the law was passed.



Swibinski said Sacco's school pension had not been determined, but would likely be about $180,000, a figure lower than the maximum due to allocations to family members. Swibinski said Sacco's pension was, "controlled by the exact same regulations that govern the earned retirement benefits of every other public employee in the state."

Swibinski said Sacco plans to seek re-election for mayor and state senator, and that he will be eligible for additional pensions once he retires from those posititions.

After going to work for the school system, Sacco was first elected mayor in 1991, then won his state senate seat two years later and has been re-elected to both positions by wide margins in the heavily Democratic township and legislative district ever since.



Sacco has defended his multiple office holding in the past, arguing that the knowledge and experience gained from each job contributes to his effectiveness in all of them.



North Bergen Board of Education President Luis Rabelo praised Sacco's blending of his public positions in a November letter to the editor on NJ.com applauding the High Tech High School move.



"Under Mayor Sacco's leadership, North Bergen schools have always been excellent," Rabelo wrote.



But Sacco has had his share of critics.



John Ventre, a North Bergen resident who follows local government, said he was not sorry to hear that Sacco was letting go of one of his three public jobs. But Ventre was angered that the mayor, state senator and school administrator could collect pensions for each one.



"I would say it's greed," Ventre said. "With so many people to fill those positions, why does he have two other jobs?"



Sacco's spokesman disagreed.

"Mayor Sacco has made tremendous contributions to North Bergen and has had a positive impact on the lives of every student, taxpayer and resident in the community," Swibinski stated.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.