NORWICH – The price tag on a heating, ventilation and air conditioning system needed to maintain servers and computers at the county office building has increased $35,000 from an original $51,000 estimate that was budgeted.

Financial leaders meeting last week scrambled to authorize Tobacco Settlement Funds as a revenue source before the system became even more expensive. But committee members would have preferred to put the brakes on the project in order to make sure it offered heat exchange capabilities.

“We have a hammer over our head,” said Supervisor Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford. “We are under the gun to accept the bid before the price goes up again, but need to re-evaluate (the bid).”

Chenango County’s portion of Tobacco Settlement funds filter down to the county annually from a 1998 federal settlement between the states and major tobacco companies. Treasurer William E. Evans reported that the county received $822,551 this year, a slight increase from years past.