Lansing- Forty-nine state retirees are paid more than $100,000 a year in pensions from a system many lawmakers - concerned about burgeoning costs - say needs reform.

More than a third of Michigan's 244,356 state retirees collect less than $10,000 a year in pension income, and roughly two-thirds get less than $20,000.

Michigan spent roughly $925 million on retirement costs last year, about 2 percent of the state's $45.7 billion budget, according to the Senate Fiscal Agency.

A never-before-published tally of the highest-paid retirees - obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests of public records - includes well-known politicians and judges and little-known school administrators, some still working in public jobs.

Public employee pensions have been a hot topic of discussion ever since Republican Snyder proposed taxing them for the first time, causing angst among retirees.

The tax is set to start Jan. 1 and will generate an estimated $230 million annually for the state budget. The tax has been challenged and is now before the Michigan Supreme Court, which has heard arguments on the law's constitutionality.