Moray Council may have to slash spending on schools projects because of the spiralling cost of the new Elgin High.
The local authority is involved in a bitter funding dispute with the Scottish Government after the price tag for the secondary soared by £1million.
The vital project was held up because of an accounting wrangle between Holyrood and the European Union.
SNP ministers have pledged only £500,000 towards the increased bill.
And Moray Council now fears other school schemes could suffer if it is left to plug the financial gap.
Local education chiefs will meet government officials today to demand they pay the full £1million increase in costs.
Work on the replacement Elgin High was due to start in April, but a change in European accounting legislation forced the Scottish Government to stall the project.
It was finally given the go-ahead at the end of last month, but councillors learned yesterday that the delays had caused the bill to rise from £28million to £29million.
Last night a Scottish Government spokeswoman justified the £500,000 contribution as “based on proper, eligible costs”, but would not be drawn on whether more money would be made available.
Council leader Stewart Cree said having to find cash to make up any shortfall could be disastrous for the local authority at a time when it is trying to cut spending.
Councillor Cree said: “The government’s prevarication has resulted in us facing considerable additional costs.
“It’s not our fault the work has been delayed and we shouldn’t have to pay the price for that.
“Our capital budget is under extreme pressure from commitment to other schools, and that £500,000 would have to come from those other schools.
“It would mean that improvements planned for those buildings would be forced back.
“If we don’t get the money we will suffer, and Moray will suffer.”
The local authority’s head of lifelong learning, culture and sport, Graham Jarvis, said: “Our officers have quite robustly challenged the Scottish Government’s offer to contribute only £500,000 to the cost.
“We will hopefully be able to squeeze some more money out of them, otherwise the council has another £500,000 bill to pay.”
Mr Jarvis and other council education bosses will meet representatives from the government’s public infrastructure body, the Scottish Futures Trust, today to try to thrash out an agreement.
He also plans to hold discussions with Balfour Beatty, the contractor appointed to carry out the work.
Elgin City South councillor John Divers has led the town’s campaign for a replacement secondary school for more than a decade.
He said: “There will need to be some serious discussions with the Scottish government over this.
“The government has previously said Moray Council would suffer no financial detriment as a result of the delays – we need to hold them to that.”
Meanwhile, council convener Allan Wright urged officers to investigate the reasons behind the huge increase in building costs.
“There seems to have been this automatic escalation of costs month by month, and I would like to see a proper justification for that”, he said.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “This additional contribution offer has been made to Moray Council based on the proper, eligible costs the council incurred as a result of the delay.
“The Scottish Government remains in close contact with the council, and hopes to see this project start construction as soon as possible.”
The development is now expected to reach financial close in late February, with work starting in early April.
The council has targeted a hand over date of October 2017.