Bay County leaders previously voted to expand the existing courthouse to accommodate juvenile courthouse services. The original agreed-upon price was $12.5 million. Still, the contractor kept raising the price with recent inflation, and the commission was no longer comfortable with the new price, according to Bay County Commissioner Robert Carroll. The commission decided to put it out to rebid, he said.

“We thought it was an opportunity to put it back out on the streets,” said Carroll. “Allow other contractors and the current contractors, who are more than welcomed to rebid it as well; maybe they can find some other savings there.”

According to The Panama City News Herald, once the bids are submitted, the commission will vote on a new contract in the coming months.

Inflation continues to rise in 2022. According to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council on Thursday, consumer price index inflation came in at 0.6 percent in the month of January, marking  a 7.5 percent increase over the previous 12 months.

As of Friday, 1,000 board feet of lumber cost $1204.90. Lows for the past 12 months were reached in August at $621.5, marking a nearly 100 percent increase in six months. Still, prices for lumber are not as high as their 12-month peak at $1553 in May, 2021. With lumber as well as other commodities, inflation isn’t the only cause of rising costs as the supply chain continues to suffer from fallout over coronavirus-related disruptions.

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