It’s an annual rite of spring.

The weather gets warmer. Crews tear up city streets to do maintenance that will make the roads last longer. And drivers, who find their path blocked by the construction, grumble.

This year is no different — except in one respect: City Hall has less money to pay for maintenance projects. The situation isn’t expected to change soon.

And that means some city streets could be turning bumpier during the next few years.

“The public,” City Commissioner Sue Hack said last week, “is going to see more problems with infrastructure.”

The city has more than $2.6 million to spend on street maintenance in 2004. Because of cuts in state aid, that number is down $200,000 from 2003.

But the cost of maintenance is getting more expensive, meaning even the reduced dollars don’t go as far as they once did. And the city spent more than usual from its street maintenance budget already this year because the icy winter took a toll on city streets, requiring more money spent on sand and ice to clear the roads.

“The hard winter is causing us a problem,” Public Works Director Chuck Soules said.

Still, the $2.6 million will pay for more than 50 maintenance projects around town this summer.

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“We’ve got a list twice as long as what we’re trying to do,” City Manager Mike Wildgen said last week. “We try to prioritize.”

The projects include efforts to mill down old streets and replace the surface with fresh asphalt in some neighborhoods while rebuilding curbs and gutters in other neighborhoods.

Officials acknowledge, however, that reduced funds could eventually take a toll on the city’s streets.

“It catches up to you fast,” Soules said.

Wildgen agreed.

“The cash and operating money are not increasing, and inflation makes it less,” he said. “I don’t have a good solution for it at this point — do less or look for additional revenue. Everybody’s looking for additional revenue.”

Hack said the commission faced a tough balance trying to meet such needs while avoiding drastic increases in taxes.

“I don’t see anything in the future that’s going to change dramatically, in terms of needs or the resources available to us,” Hack said.

Wildgen cautioned against a worst-case scenario.

“I don’t think crumbling will happen,” Wildgen said, “but we will be challenged to maintain the infrastructure.”