LODI - The Lodi City Council on Tuesday approved spending up to $50,000 on a financial consultant to figure out how to handle $2.5 million in city bonds investors have asked to redeem early.

The bonds were part of a nearly $47 million bond refinancing in 2002 to cover electric utility projects. City officials said the requests to cash out $2.5 million in bonds are in response to the shaky municipal bond market nationwide, not the city's finances.

The city is no longer on the hook for the money, however; the $2.5 million worth of bonds are now being held by the French bank BNP Paribas, which charges the city a higher interest rate. Tom Dunphy of Lamont Financial Services will work with the city to figure out its options in search of a lower interest rate.

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