Last week, City of Natchez officials announced they were exploring options to consolidate public bonds.

That should perk up the public’s collective interest now.

Anytime local government starts sniffing around at the idea of reworking the public’s debt, we get a little nervous.

Call us skeptical.

Consider us conservative.

Label us as skittish, even.

But the reality is — and with all respect due to local leaders — most local elected officials have absolutely no experience dealing with multi-million-dollar bonds.

What seems to happen is in lieu of real understanding of complicated finances, many, many local agencies are “helped” by out-of-town financial advisers. While not all of these folks are bad, we question the logic of messing around with something without first knowing all of the costs — both upfront and long term.

In 2006, the City of Natchez entered into a complicated bond-swap derivative. City leaders were “sold” on the idea that it would save the city a bunch of money over time. Clearly, that wasn’t fully accurate and none of those involved could explain how the swap worked, which should have been a good reason not to enter into it in the first place.

The 1999 bond taken out to help build and furnish the new Natchez Convention Center was originally issued at $12 million. Amazingly, while the building — like all buildings do — has reduced in value over time as it ages, the debt that created it is almost in suspended animation.

In approximately 14 years of payments, only about $2.3 million has been paid off on the bond. At that rate, our great-grandchildren will still be paying on the facility.

City leaders would be wise to focus on reducing overhead and expenses, paying off the existing debt and treating any new debt or new refinancing measures like the average person would consider a bank loan. If the terms are too complicated and don’t make sense, simply walk away.