in neighboring broward county, where fort lauderdale is the largest city, property taxes are down $17 billion. taken together, that's $26,000 less in property taxes from every home and condo in the region. and that means more belt- tightening. workers in north miami beach will take a 10% pay cut and 10- day furloughs. hialeah, a city of 200,000, will lay off 50 employees, and could cut worker pay by a third. in broward county, 10% of bus routes are on the chopping block. along with millions of dollars less, says county commissioner stacy ritter, for law enforcement and other key services. >> you feel like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. do you raise taxes and give them the services they want, but recognize that in this economy, raising taxes is a really bad thing to do? or do you cut the service, keep the tax level what it is, and just recognize that they'll be mad at you because the parks and libraries aren't open when they want? there's no good answer and no way to please everybody in a time like this. jeff yastine, "nightly business report," miami. >> tom: our series