WALHALLA — Oconee County officials think they have a great opportunity to pay for improvements at the courthouse, add jail space to the Detention Center and even build a new fire station in Westminster without raising taxes.

According to a plan being circulated around county government circles, the cost of much-talked-about capital projects could be bundled with existing debt and paid off through a General Obligation Bond at today’s exceptional interest rates.

Yet, county officials are unable to move forward with the plan because they still have no clue as to what the final price tag on the courthouse improvements would be.

After six years of negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice, it appears Oconee County is no closer to knowing what it would take and cost to resolve Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) deficiencies at the county courthouse.

The hold up is frustrating county officials who would like to include the price tag of upgrading the courthouse with the cost of expanding the Detention Center, and perhaps even building a new fire station in Westminster, by refinancing its current debt.

Oconee County Council Chairman Reg Dexter said Monday that Interim Administrator Kendra Brown believes all the capital projects could be paid for, along with existing debt, by taking advantage of rock-bottom rates.

“We don’t have much debt,” Dexter said. “We could roll over the current debt and add the other projects in a bond issue, and there would be no increase of taxes to the citizens of Oconee.”

Oconee’s total debt currently stands at about $1.3 million, according to budget figures.

However, Dexter said the county has had little success in getting the Department of Justice “to present the whole package” of what needs to be done at the courthouse.

“We want them to identify whatever is wrong at the courthouse and tell us these are the 100 things that are wrong, fix it,” Dexter said.

Attorney Andy Goldsmith, of the Greenville law firm of Love, Thornton, Arnold and Thomason, is leading the courthouse mitigation negotiations with the Department of Justice. County Attorney Tom Martin said he is monitoring the situation for the county.

Martin said he agrees with Dexter that progress is being made, albeit slower than some would prefer.

The process with federal officials has been complicated and slower than usual, Martin said, because negotiations also are taking place with the architect and the builder.

However, Martin said it is critical to “redo this correctly, the first time, with regard to all parties.”

Still, time is of the essence if the county wants to lock in on the advantageous interest rates.

Brown said in a recent interview that should the county end up borrowing $20 million over a 20-year period, an increase in the interest rate of just one-half of a percentage point would cost the county $500,000.