The Butler County commissioners are considering refinancing old debt and borrowing additional money to pay for nearly $6 million in capital improvements.

Under the proposal, the county would refinance a 2006 bond and acquire new financing to raise an amount not to exceed $10 million.

During the commissioners meeting Wednesday, Commissioner Leslie Osche, board chairman, said the money is needed.

“We have a number of challenges to deal with and overcome,” Osche said.

She said the actual amount borrowed, which would be set at the April 13 commissioners meeting, should be less than the $10 million cap.

The big ticket item on the $5.8 million project list is an estimated $4.5 million to replace all the exterior panels on the county government center on West Diamond Street.

“We have deterioration of the exterior panels,” said Commissioner Kim Geyer.

John Campbell, director of county facilities and operations, said rust is coming through the aggregate panels, the beige sections surrounding the seven-floor building, which opened in 1991.

Campbell said the metal inside the panels should have been galvanized, but the contractor who built the structure is no longer in business.

The second most costly project is correcting water problems in the courthouse for $500,000.

“We’re getting moisture in there,” Campbell said.

Along with water on the basement floor, some walls are damaged.

Campbell said a trench would reroute rainwater to keep it from getting into the building.

“That should take care of water issues in the basement,” he said.

An air conditioning system also would be installed.

“Putting air conditioning in takes some of the humidity out of the air,” Campbell said.

The remaining projects are $440,000 for computer upgrades, $200,000 for pictometry — imaging systems for tax assessment and emergency services, and $100,000 for work on a computer server.

The $5.8 million does not cover a pending upgrade of the county 911 radio system. Osche said additional borrowing would be done once that cost is set.

The commissioners directed bond counsel Anthony Ditka, the managing partner of the Pittsburgh office of Dinsmore & Shohl, to craft an ordinance refunding a 2006 bond issue and taking out a new loan.

Scott Shearer of the PFM Group of Harrisburg, the county’s financial adviser, said this is a good time to borrow.

“We are at very low levels for long-term borrowing,” Shearer said.

Although the county would pay less annually on the 2006 borrowing, it would pay more over a new repayment schedule.

Osche also said the county could stave off a property tax hike by reducing costs by roughly $1 million each year.

She said $1.6 million already has been pruned from county expenses.