Donna Ivanko is not usually one to complain.

But there she was - a 57-year-old woman who cares for her elderly mother - laying into the St. Petersburg City Council. Ivanko's property taxes were going up $5,506.

"We can't afford it anymore," she said, wagging her finger.

The sentiment filled government halls across the Tampa Bay area this month as scores of residents demanded tax relief.

Believe it or not - it worked.

The tax revolt saved residents of the Tampa Bay area's largest governments more than $75-million, according to a St. Petersburg Times analysis of budget figures. The savings were greatest in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, where governments trimmed at least $50-million from their budgets.

The money saved is a tangible success for residents scared that they can longer afford Florida. But despite the cuts, the Times analysis found total government spending is still up over last year - by almost $460-million, or six times the amount trimmed this month.

Total spending for the biggest governments in the five-county area: nearly $3-billion.

Governments raided reserves and scaled back program expansions to make their budget cuts, but few if any actually cut spending or rolled back programs already in place.

In Pinellas County, the county government had to dip into nearly $19-million in reserves and drop funding for, among other things, a DNA crime lab and enhanced dental health programs for the poor.

Hillsborough County commissioners stripped money away from several programs, including $500,000 from a domestic violence agency.

And in Pasco County, where a vocal tax revolt never really materialized, county commissioners still killed $600,000 for new sheriff's administrative cruisers. Commissioners also chopped Sheriff Bob White's request for 98 new department employees by 40 percent.

White tried to save his programs by saying county commissioners were the United Nations, and his department was like a "developing nation."

It's a start

Though taxpayers saved more than $75-million, many wanted even more relief. Several asked their local government to cut tax rates further to the rollback rate - the point where governments would take in the same amount of money they did the year before.

But in a growing state, that's not realistic, governments say.

"You just can't run government with the dollars that you made the year before," Citrus County Commissioner Joyce Valentino told residents Tuesday.

If governments freeze employees' salaries, for instance, many workers might leave, elected leaders say.

And as places grow, governments have to provide more services, said John W. Smith, the assistant director of legislative affairs for the Florida League of Cities. Every new condominium that opens provides new tax revenues, but it also involves new costs.

"The frustration that many people feel was not created by local government," said Smith, talking about the inequities created by the Save Our Homes tax assessment cap. "They were voted in by the electorate. They've come back to bite us."

"State and local governments and the public have to join hands and fix it together," Smith said.

Until that day, Smith said residents - mainly renters and business and second-home owners - are going to continue pounding on government doors.

A neurologist in St. Petersburg is leading one fight.

Dr. David McKalip has formed the not-for-profit group Cut Taxes Now and has scheduled an Oct. 11 tax protest outside St. Petersburg City Hall. McKalip said governments continue to be frivolous with taxpayer dollars.

"Unlike local taxing authorities who can simply raise revenue with a vote of a few board members, average citizens can't double their revenue easily in six years," McKalip said to supporters.

Ron Krasneck, 64, said increased taxes are squeezing his family out of the middle class. The cost of living has gotten so high, he said, that he and his wife are considering leaving Citrus County.

Already, he said, in the face of tax increases they've let go of their lawn service and turned up their thermostat. Many other residents are in a similar predicament, he said.

The message is being registered in city halls and county commission chambers. Elected leaders said it was tough to trim the money they did cut. But they also know they may have to do better next year.

"Nobody's making up any horror stories, they're living horror stories," said Hernando Commissioner Tom Hogan. "People are really hurting. They don't have to exaggerate.

"We get that."

Times Staff writers Catherine Shoichet, Asjylyn Loder, David DeCamp, Kevin Graham and Will Van Sant contributed to this report.