Cities in Miami-Dade grappling with lower revenues tightened their budget belts this year, raising fees, shelving projects or hiking their property tax rates to try to keep services. And the troubled economy already has city officials worrying about next year.

The new fiscal year started Tuesday, Oct. 1, and city leaders across Miami-Dade spent the last month nailing down details of their new budgets in workshops and hearings.

Most residents will still see slightly lower local tax bills, thanks to tax reforms voters approved in January. But those measures, coupled with state-mandated cuts last year, caused a drop in city revenues -- a shortfall exacerbated by the tanking real estate market.

The result: Residents will be charged more fees and get less from some of their local governments, with municipalities cutting back on events, hours and staff to save funds.

Surfside eliminated its Fourth of July celebration. Three pools in Miami Beach will be closed one day a week from November to February. And most cities axed some jobs, merged others and left vacant positions empty -- including 200 in Hialeah that saved the city about $7 million.

''The present economic times have people hurting,'' Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina said.

''If people are having to tighten their belts at homes, the city needs to do it as well to set an example,'' he said.

To make up for some of the revenue losses, residents will be paying more for services they receive now, from higher parks fees in Palmetto Bay to increased garbage collection charges in Coral Gables. Miami Beach and Homestead hiked their water and sewer fees, and permitting will be more expensive in Golden Beach.

Most cities also raised their property tax rates for the new fiscal year, erasing some of the tax savings from January's reforms that doubled the homestead exemption to $50,000 and let homeowners carry their tax caps with them when they move. But residents of most municipalities will still pay less in taxes this year.

Homeowners in Aventura continue to pay the lowest municipal tax rate in the county -- although because of higher property values, the average $485 city tax bill is more than what residents of other cities pay. The lowest average bill -- about $270 -- is in unincorporated areas that receive county services.

The highest tax rate: small Biscayne Park, home to about 3,300 residents and no commercial properties. Village Manager Frank Spence said a rate increase -- to $8.8903 for every $1,000 of a proerty's assessed value, up from $8.34 last year -- was inevitable, after losing 16.4 percent of home values compared to last year.

''It caused extreme revenue losses,'' he said of the increase, which brought the average tax bill to about $1,238.

That's still lower than the highest average bill of any city, a distinction that goes to the tiny village of Indian Creek. Residents there pay about $58,500 in local taxes for homes worth an average of $9 million.

In the end, some municipalities did not cut as deeply as they had originally proposed. Leaders in those cities changed their minds and dug into funds after hearing an outcry from residents. Miami Beach chose not to charge for weddings on the sand and delayed a metered parking increase. North Miami kept a summer mentoring program, and Palmetto Bay decided against cutting police jobs.

A few newer cities were still able to grow in some areas -- or at least not cut -- after being spared from last year's state-mandated reductions. Some, like Doral, also had commercial sectors whose taxes were less affected by this year's reforms.

Cutler Bay added five new police officers, despite a few residents' concerns about the extra cost, and budgeted funds for new park projects.

''We don't have as much mass over which to cut stuff,'' Town Manager Steven Alexander said. ``We're much leaner than a comparable older government to begin with.''

While managers like Alexander are more optimistic about what next year will bring, other city administrators fear if the dual trends of lower property values and shrinking state funding continue, local government revenues could dip even lower next year.

Said North Miami Beach Mayor Raymond Marin: ``This is not going to get easier.''

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