The growing cadre of MBTA workers raking in $100,000 or more spiked by nearly 10 percent in a year that saw the cash-strapped agency shed hundreds of employees to cut costs, only to see its payroll actually grow.

Nearly 27?percent of the T’s workforce, or about 1,690 employees, made six figures in 2016, including a foreman who topped all earners at $227,000, half of which came from overtime.

ALSO SEE: The complete MBTA payroll

It marks a 9?percent jump from the year before, when 1,553 employees pulled in $100,000 or more.

The rise in highly paid workers came as the T’s overall payroll ticked up to $522.8?million, about $4?million more than 2015, and while small comparatively, the jump is noteworthy. The agency cut its workforce by 250 employees last year through retirement incentives, buyouts, and in some cases, layoffs.

It also launched a slew of cost-saving measures, from privatizing its warehouse and “cash” room to slashing overtime by $20?million from 2015’s winter-marred ledger.

But other factors came into play, T officials say. Unionized T employees got a contractually obligated 2.5?percent pay bump in July. One other union got an additional 1.5?percent, and a number of retroactive payments were built into past settlements, said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

In some cases, T employees also got arbitration awards, though those crop up in most years.

Pesaturo stressed that the T has made moves to drive down costs. In December, it cut a new bargaining agreement with its largest union, the Carmen’s Union Local 589, that includes no pay raises this year.

Overtime also appears more under control. After nearly 30 employees made $200,000 or more in 2015, just a half-dozen made that last year. No workers made more than $300,000, after two did the year before, including one since-retired foreman who made $327,636 after he regularly approved his own overtime, an audit revealed.

Overall the T paid out $59.9?million in overtime last year. Pesaturo said that’s because the transit agency spent “almost every weekend in 2016” updating the system or doing winter resiliency work.

“The MBTA will continue to identify more areas where the T can operate more efficiently, improve performance and deliver the reliable service that riders expect and deserve,” Pesaturo said.

“The Fiscal and Management Control Board and the T’s new leadership team have made significant progress in putting the MBTA on a path to fiscal sustainability,” he added.

Perry Yee, a maintenance foreman, topped all T employees in 2016 with $227,022 in earnings, including $111,234 in overtime. He made $302,000 in 2015. Pesaturo said his six-figure overtime tab is likely due him because he was “heavily involved” in ongoing subway maintenance and modernization projects.

Four of the five other $200,000 earners also made well in excess of their base pay aside from COO Jeff Gonneville, who, at $210,000 annually, is the T’s highest salaried employee.