Selecting the option of 'Powerful re-forging' actually produces lower intensity items than without this option.
True Story
Do you have any specific details on this issue? I ran through some tests after reading this post and found whether I am using low end runic tools (Dull Copper, Shadow, etc.) or high end runic tools (Verite, Valorite, etc.) selecting the Powerful Re-Forging option resulted in budget increases of generally between 30 and 50 points. There were instances where I had some unlucky rolls where my budget increase was only around 15 or 20, but I also had some instances where I had some lucky rolls where my budget increases were around 55 or 60.
I would need to get some additional information to investigate any further. What type of items were you reforging? What type of tool were you using? What properties were you seeing and what were the property values you were seeing? Or any additional information that you feel might be useful.