BOSTON – Attorney General Tom Reilly is appealing a Superior Court decision giving former University of Massachusetts President William Bulger a more generous retirement package than he was awarded by the state’s pension system.

Reilly filed a motion with the state Appeals Court on Tuesday.

In November, Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy ruled that Bulger’s University-funded housing allowance and the contents of an investment fund should have been taken into account when his pension was calculated.

The ruling increased Bulger’s annual pension by about $29,000, to $208,000.

In the appeal, Reilly’s office argues that the University never treated the housing allowance as compensation, that is was instead a kind of reimbursement similar to travel expenses.

“To be ‘compensation’ the payment must be remuneration for work or services performed by him, not simply the value of something required to be used by him as part of his job,” the appeal said.

Reilly said Bulger’s pension should be based on pay, not perks.

“To include housing allowances and annuity payments in calculating his pension simply goes too far and sets a dangerous precedent for the Massachusetts public pension system,” Reilly said in a written statement.

Bulger attorney Thomas Kiley declined comment.

Bulger, a colorful, longtime figure in the Massachusetts political landscape, resigned under pressure in September 2003 after Reilly and Gov. Mitt Romney argued that he had not done enough to assist authorities in the search for his fugitive mobster brother, James “Whitey” Bulger.

Before he was UMass chief, Bulger was president of the state Senate. His brother, one-time leader of the Winter Hill Gang, is a key figure in a scandal over Boston FBI agents who protected their underworld informants. He vanished 10 years ago.

-Associated Press