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PHOENIX — From Wickenburg to Eagar, streets in cities and towns across Arizona are falling into disrepair because there's not enough money to keep them in shape.

Some cities are barely able to pay for routine maintenance, let alone build new roads to keep up with growth. Others, such as Eager, can't even afford to fill the cracks in streets.

Municipalities rely on the state to fund road projects, but that funding no longer is keeping up with the soaring costs and rising demands of road work.

"When the money is not meeting the needs for growth, and infrastructure is crumbling, I don't know how to say it differently — it's bad," said Tom Belshe, deputy director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns.

The longer Arizona's roads go without repair, the worse they become and the more it will cost to fix them. The cost of highway and street construction jumped 66 percent since 2000 and is still rising, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The local municipalities are struggling just like the state trying to address their transportation need," said Victor Mendez, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Transportation money for cities and towns comes from the state's highway user revenue fund, half of which goes to state highways. Cities and towns get about a third, and counties get the rest.

The fund collected $1.38 billion last year, slightly more than in 2006. Overall, the fund fell 1.2 percent, or $16.3 million, short of projections last year.

Revenue from the state's gasoline taxes provide the bulk of the highway fund. The state tax is 18 cents per gallon on gasoline and up to 26 cents on diesel fuel.

Because the tax is a flat amount, soaring gas prices haven't helped the highway fund. On average, gas-tax collections rose 3.5 percent a year over the past 10 years. Last year, they rose only 1.8 percent.

Diesel-fuel collections fell slightly, the first decrease since 2001.

Making matters worse is a new state budget that slashes the amount of money allocated to cities and towns by $23 million, according to the Arizona League of Cities and Towns.

But more money could be on the way.

An initiative going on the Nov. 4 ballot would raise $42.6 billion for transportation projects through a 1-percentage-point increase in the state sales tax. The proposal would put 20 percent of that total, or $8.5 billion, toward local transportation projects.