While the 2008 Legislature OK’d raises for elected officials, another round should not be expected in 2009, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said in Vicksburg Tuesday.

Bryant was speaking to about 400 county supervisors gathered for a statewide conference.

Referencing bills dealing with raises for justice court judges and district attorneys, Bryant cited a “tight budget year” coming up for the state and its 82 counties.

“I don’t believe we should graft a legislative pay raise on everybody else,” Bryant said.

In Mississippi, legislators are paid $10,000 annually, plus a $109 per diem tied to the federal reimbursement rate. The jobs are part-time and Bryant, who is president of the Senate, said they should remain that way.

Around the state, many board of supervisors, including the Warren County board, raised property tax rates and cited the raises awarded by lawmakers as part of the reason. Here, supervisors also cited higher fuel costs for higher tax bills that will be mailed in December.

Bryant said initial budget estimates for the upcoming fiscal year show about $1.2 billion in additional requests from state agencies. A $5 billion spending plan was adopted during the last regular session.

“This is going to be the most difficult budget year in the last two decades,” Bryant said.

Supervisors remained vocal on the issue of their own pay, which is tied to population size.

Hancock County supervisor Steve Seymour told Bryant during a question-and-answer session that House Bill 2571, also known as the Justice Court Reform Act of 2008, slighted supervisors.

“To give it to the judges, who work just one day a week, is a serious slap in the face,” Seymour said.

The new law mandated justice court judges be paid either 103 percent of their present pay or an increase commensurate with a supervisor’s raise if there was one in a particular county. In Warren County, this made for a pay hike for the three judges from $40,075 to $41,277.

On other points, Bryant expressed confidence a cigarette tax hike would be approved and signed by Gov. Haley Barbour in 2009. On the issue of garbage collection, where the counties are mandated to comply with state rubbish disposal ordinances, Bryant urged supervisors to “come up with a system” and he’d be willing to help them.

The lone bill to address it last year allowed supervisors to tack on a special assessment to nonresidents of the county, legislation that did not address delinquent fees.

Efforts in promoting Mississippi as an energy state will continue, Bryant said, citing Mississippi Power’s clean coal plant in Kemper County and the pending application to build another reactor at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station.

Bryant co-hosts an energy summit tonight at Hinds Community College in Raymond with the Mississippi Manufacturers Association and the Mississippi Economic Council.