The City of Andalusia is preparing to refinance its debt with a new bond issue take advantage of low interest rates, Mayor Earl Johnson said.

At present, the city’s bond issue is financed at 4.5 percent, and the interest rate could be lowered almost a half-percent, he said.

In preparation for that, which is expected within two months, the council on Tuesday renewed a short-term loan for $700,000 it has with Regions Bank for Springdale, the downtown estate acquired by the city in 2010. This loan will be included in the new bond issue, Johnson said.

The mayor said the city will use the monies saved to finance resurfacing projects.