MADISON - Republicans who control the state Legislature appear nowhere near a deal on how to fund roads.

That became clear Wednesday when 10 Senate Republicans rolled out a plan to give counties and towns — but not cities or villages — a one-time infusion of cash to help pay for roads. Other Senate Republicans have not embraced the plan so far and GOP leaders from both houses said the idea should be considered outside of budget deliberations that are underway.

Also Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau said Republicans in his house were considering raising annual vehicle registration fees by $10. Assembly leaders haven't said whether they would back that idea.

Raising the registration fee from $75 to $85 a year would generate about an eighth as much as Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' proposal to raise the gas tax by about a dime a gallon over two years.

If Republicans come up with less money than Evers, they likely would have to delay some projects. But they could also try to keep construction plans on track using money from other accounts or by borrowing more.

The 10 senators who championed the plan for county and town roads refused to say whether they would support increases in the gas tax or registration fees to provide long-term funding for roads. They announced their $134 million proposal a day before the Legislature's budget committee is to take up transportation funding.

RELATED:Wisconsin GOP isn't considering gas tax increase but may boost fees, Senate leader says

RELATED:Wisconsin gas tax to go up by nearly a dime a gallon under Gov. Tony Evers' plan

RELATED:Tony Evers vetoes the GOP tax cut bill but plans to include his own cut in the state budget

Without money for other communities, the plan is inadequate, said Jerry Deschane, the executive director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities.

"We support a holistic solution," he told reporters. "There's obviously nothing in this for 70% of the taxpayers in this state. That's roughly how many people live in cities and villages. So that's a problem."

Under that plan, the state would dip into a surplus to give Wisconsin's 72 counties up to $1 million each, regardless of population or miles of roads they have. In addition, towns would get $61.6 million for their roads.

"With the surplus, I think it's important to give it back to the local governments to fix the roads," said Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.

The group represents just over half of the 19 Republicans in the Senate. They said they would push for their plan as they negotiate a deal with Assembly Republicans, who have yet to say what their transportation plan is.

Fitzgerald called the proposal "laudable" but said it should be debated separately from the state budget. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester also believes the idea should be considered outside of the budget process, Vos spokeswoman Kit Beyer said.

Fitzgerald said Republicans would not go along with Evers' plan to raise the gas tax by 8 cents initially and by about a penny a year after that.

“If we do the 8 cents on the gas tax it moves us to No. 10 in the nation,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re trying to figure out if there’s other places that we can do this instead of just at the pump all the time.”

Officials with Evers' Department of Transportation advocated for raising the state’s tax on gasoline in a string of tweets.

“We need to establish a forward-looking, sustainable funding source to fix our deteriorating highways. A gas tax is the fairest, most affordable solution. It applies to everyone using the highway system — including visitors,” said a tweet from the department’s official Twitter account.

Fitzgerald said the advocacy was inappropriate.

“Really?” Fitzgerald said when asked about the tweets.

RELATED:GOP leaders say they aren't sexist; Evers' aide says they won't work with women on governor's team

RELATED:Gov. Tony Evers says voters should 'connect the dots' on why Republicans won't meet with his female aides

He said the department should provide information "instead of being such an advocate, but it would appear Secretary (Craig) Thompson can’t help himself.”

Before he was appointed transportation secretary, Thompson lobbied for more money for roads as the head of the Transportation Development Association, a trade group.

Thompson said with the tweets his agency was simply explaining why the Evers administration considers the gas tax a fairer way to pay for roads than registration fees.

Thompson said Evers is willing to compromise with Republicans on a transportation deal, but said providing substantially less money than Evers proposed would likely lead to delays for repairing two-lane highways and could endanger funds for local roads.

"Finishing the Zoo Interchange would obviously be at risk" in such a situation, he said.

Fitzgerald said he and Vos met Wednesday about transportation spending but signaled his own caucus hasn’t decided what it wants, let alone reached a deal with Assembly Republicans.

“We’re trying to generate enough either revenue, some cash, and probably some bonding to fund whatever the size of (the package) is,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not rocket science.”

This year's transportation debate is similar to ones from the past. Two years ago, the state budget was three months late because of GOP disagreements over funding highways.

Evers is seeking $608 million more for transportation over two years, with most of it — $527 million — coming from the higher gas tax. The rest would come from higher heavy truck fees and titling fees.

Raising the registration fees by $10, as Fitzgerald suggested, would increase road funding by about $65 million over two years, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Off the table this time is a proposal from Evers to repeal the minimum markup law, which requires retailers to increase the price of gas in most cases by 9% above the average wholesale price.

“You know in the city of Juneau there's one Piggly Wiggly. And if it's directly affected and it goes out of business, whether it's minimum markup or not, guess who's going to get blamed? Me,” Fitzgerald said. “So, we need a grocery store in Juneau, you know?"

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.