Southern Nevada cities are on pace to bring in millions of dollars less than they expected, leading officials to slow down new hires and cut off a funding stream that had been used for new parks, fire stations and city facilities.

The shortfalls are the result of sluggish growth or even decreases in a key tax source for the first four months of the fiscal year compared with the same period a year ago, according to state Department of Taxation data.

Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas, meanwhile, budgeted for increases ranging from 8.7 percent to 10 percent, officials said.

Cities are preparing for the less-than-expected revenue by tightening their belts or eyeing their reserves.

Las Vegas is slowing down the process to fill vacant jobs not directly related to public safety, City Manager Doug Selby said. Word also has gone out to department heads that now is not the time to bring forward new projects.

In North Las Vegas, the number of people hired to handle the growing pains of the country's second-fastest growing large city also will be slowed, said Phil Stoeckinger, the city's director of finance.

"In past years, we've added a lot of positions" to deal with the city's growth, Stoeckinger said. "There's no way we hire nearly the amount of folks compared to last year."

Richard Derrick, budget manager for Henderson, said it is too early to tell what the outcome of the lower-than-expected revenue would be.

"It's hard to base it on just four months of receipts," he said. But he also pointed to reserves that are in place.

The major question budget officials are asking: How long will this downturn last?

"I'm not so much nervous with the current year," said Las Vegas Finance Director Mark Vincent. "But is this a temporary blip or current trend? That's the question we're all watching."

He said Las Vegas usually budgets conservatively, overestimating expenses and underestimating revenues. At the end of the year, surplus revenue is spent on one-time projects such as parks, city facilities and fire stations. That money might not be there when the fiscal year ends on June 30.

Alone among Southern Nevada governments that didn't budget for significant growth in the consolidated tax is Clark County. Officials there budgeted for no increase over the actual dollars received from the prior year.

"We budget conservatively every year because the revenue stream is somewhat volatile," said Dan Kulin, a spokesman for Clark County.

The consolidated tax is made up of sales, real property transfer, alcohol and motor vehicle taxes. It makes up a majority of cities' general funds, the account that pays for public safety, park amenities and fire departments.

In years past, these cities have watched the consolidated tax show double-digit increases.

The leveling off is the result of flat sales tax revenues compared with last year and the slowing housing market. Fewer homes are being sold and property values are leveling off, decreasing the revenue government is taking in.

Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson each are going to be millions of dollars short of what they budgeted unless sales tax and the housing market picks up substantially in the final eight months of the year.

The city of Las Vegas will find a $21 million shortfall over what was budgeted. Henderson is on pace for a $9.5 million shortfall. And North Las Vegas is on target for $5.5 million less than was budgeted for, according to officials at each of the cities.

Officials with the cities and state admit they didn't see it coming.

"It's not what we predicted," said Marian Henderson, management analyst for the state Department of Taxation. "We did the best we could with the information we had."

State predictions given to local governments forecasted increases, though they were more modest than those adopted by local governments.

Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, said in retrospect, local governments were obviously optimistic. But she said that because of the state's predictions, "it's hard to fault the local governments."

To be sure, sales tax numbers for the intense shopping day after Thanksgiving and the holiday buying season haven't been released yet. And officials said it's too early to predict gloom and doom -- or layoffs for city employees.

"I'm not convinced the picture is all that bad," Henderson said. "December could pull up everybody."

CONSOLIDATED TAX REVENUE

Consolidated tax revenue in Southern Nevada is falling short of both the state Department of Taxation's estimates and local government budgets for fiscal year 2006-07. Shown below are the estimates for the percentage change in revenue compared with fiscal year 2005-06, and the actual revenue for the first four months.