Crucial Broward wastewater work could be delayed. Financing costs at Broward's BankAtlantic Center could rise. North Bay Village drainage work is in limbo.

Wall Street's wildly fluctuating bond market has taken a toll -- still fully untold -- on public works projects big and small throughout South Florida, boosting costs in some cases and delaying work in others.

Taxpayers haven't been affected much -- yet. But it's likely they will.

Imagine today's bond market as a game of dominoes. As interest rates increase, so does the debt payment of local government. To cover the cost, governments have few choices: Find new revenue sources, cut services or, eventually, increase taxes.

Bond experts say it's simply a case of credit drying up and people too worried to invest in anything not backed by the U.S. government. As a result, they're demanding higher interest rates in order to purchase bonds.

''People are scared to death,'' said Steven Caruso a bond attorney with Maddox Hargett and Caruso in New York City. ``This is about as close to the Great Depression as you can get.''

The news of Friday's $700 billion relief package approved by Congress was welcomed from local government leaders to Wall Street brokers. Even California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was trying to cash in, seeking a $7 billion loan to help run his state government.

The hope is that as the federal government buys off bad debts from the banks, lenders will be more willing to extend credit.

That could translate to the bond market, as well. As credit becomes available, people who buy those bonds are not as likely to demand higher interest rates.

''It will give people more confidence that the capital markets have become more liquid,'' said Caruso.

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, summed up the credit crunch in a letter to Congress ahead of Friday's vote.

TAXPAYER COSTS

''When cities issue debt in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars, these changes in borrowing costs represent significant added costs to taxpayers,'' he wrote.

Miami-Dade County is a good example.

The county has about $347 million in the volatile variable -- or auction rate -- bond market. County Finance Director Rachel Baum is looking to place that money in a permanent fixed-rate home.

Variable bond rates, though low in recent years, have jumped by as much as 1 ¾ percent in the past few weeks. At that rate, it would mean an additional yearly debt payment by the county of more than $5 million.

Still, the county is in relatively good shape.

Analysts say to eliminate risk for taxpayers, it's best for governments to keep as much as 95 percent of their bonds at fixed rates. The county has secured 96 percent of its bond debt, according to County Manager George Burgess.

Baum and Burgess said they managed to recently convert a $415 million variable rate bond for a public works projects to a locked in 4.26 percent. Bonds had been trading at about ¾ of a point less. That would mean an additional annual debt payment of more than a $3 million a year.

And the county still has work to do. Baum is looking to place a $300 million bond issued in 2005 for a water and sewer project in at a fixed rate. Also, the county needs to permanently park a $46 million bond being used to build the juvenile courthouse. Like home mortgages, penalties are often imposed for changing finance structures.

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