Just as construction costs are rising, so are the prices of upcoming local government projects in the area. That means taxpayer money likely won't go as far as it has in the past.

The increasing cost of steel and other construction materials such as concrete and asphalt has gotten so high that Columbia County officials say added contingency funds will be needed for future project budgets.

"We're going to have to start adding on a 30 to 50 percent contingency because when we get our prices to go forth and present a project, by the time you go through the whole process those prices have just outgrown what's in the budget," said Pam Tucker, the county's emergency services director.

A new communications tower that is to go up near the county's Emergency Operations Center off North Belair Road provides an example of the effect of rising costs. The tower is to be up in the next six to eight months. In the past year, as the project made its way from the preliminary stage to its recent approval for construction, Mrs. Tucker said, the price for the 190-foot tower increased $67,000, to $221,000. Commissioners had to grant a second approval on the revised figure.