Months after getting $95 million for a new Kapolei Court Complex, court officials have told state lawmakers they need another $48 million for construction or they will have to drastically reduce the size of the court building and give up a portion of free land for the project.

Higher fuel and material prices because of hurricanes on the Mainland last year and competition for labor in the state's surging economy have driven up construction costs. But lawmakers, who barely approved the original money for the court complex last session, were astonished the cost estimate has jumped so high so quickly.

With requests this session to use part of a budget surplus to repair public schools, public housing and irrigation systems, lawmakers said they will look carefully at the court complex.

"I, for one, think it's outrageous," said state Sen. Shan Tsutsui, D-4th (Kahului), the vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "I think we're going to scrub this really hard."

The court complex has been a priority for the judiciary for years and would ideally be home to Family Court, which is now downtown at cramped Ka'ahumanu Hale. The complex would also house a new juvenile detention center and some District Court and Circuit Court functions. Although some Family Court and juvenile detention services would remain downtown, the new project is one of several that would bring expanded government services to growing West O'ahu.

The Legislature approved $95 million for the court complex last session only after court officials said they needed the entire amount this fiscal year to qualify for about 15 acres of land for the project being donated by Campbell Estate.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Moon, in a letter to court workers in December, said higher construction costs had forced the judiciary to either downsize the project or ask for more state money.

"In order to complete the project within the currently budgeted amount, we have struggled with, and were compelled to make, some hard decisions, especially with respect to the overall size of the Kapolei Court Complex," Moon wrote.

Moon wrote the judiciary would like to keep the new juvenile detention facility, which would replace deteriorating Hale Ho'omalu downtown, at the originally designed 70,000 square feet. But a lack of money would force the court building to be reduced from 260,000 square feet to 110,000 square feet and lead to the loss of about four acres of free Campbell Estate land.

"Although we are still working on many details regarding this unexpected change, it presently appears that the resized courthouse will alter our plans regarding the number of support personnel and functions that will be deployed to the Kapolei Court," Moon informed workers.

The other option, Moon wrote, was to ask for more state money to build a court building of at least 175,000 square feet and keep the Campbell Estate land. The chief justice wrote that the Campbell Estate would agree to extend its deadline for a construction contract by a year, to the end of 2007, if the project received more state money this session.

Russ Saito, the state comptroller, who helped the judiciary with the original estimate, said a combination of higher construction costs and more detailed building plans for the complex are what pushed the estimate higher. He said it is not uncommon for the state to scale back projects when costs are projected to exceed the amount approved by the Legislature but, in this case, he believes the complex is important enough to get the extra money.

"I think the better option is to ask for the additional money rather than scale back," Saito said.

State Rep. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia), said traffic congestion has made it increasingly difficult for people in West O'ahu to make it downtown in the mornings for court or other government appointments. He said moving more government jobs and public services to the west side may eventually reduce traffic in central and downtown Honolulu and help sustain Kapolei as the second city on O'ahu.

"It's a lot of money. It costs a lot less than that to build a middle school," Moses said of the new cost estimate for the court complex. "But I will support whatever it takes to get it built."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Gulf Coast last year led to higher fuel prices nationwide and increased the cost of construction materials. The state's low-unemployment rate — 2.7 percent in December, the lowest in the nation — has led to a tight labor market with higher demand for skilled workers.

Bill Deuchar, president of U.S. Pacific Construction, said construction costs in Hawai'i are increasing by about one-half percent to 1 percent a month. Nationally, Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, predicted that fuel, asphalt and plastics would be 10 percent to 20 percent higher this year, but that steel, wood and gypsum products would be about the same as last year.

State Sen. Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), the chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the court complex was one of the larger projects the Legislature approved last session.

Several lawmakers wanted to spread the cost out over several years but were convinced by the judiciary to commit all the money at once so the courts could get the Campbell Estate land. Taniguchi said he began hearing as early as last summer that the money might not be enough.

"We're going to have to check this out," he said.

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.