A job fair at Hutchinson Community College Thursday smashed previous participation records by employers looking for help as the local and regional labor markets remain extremely tight. “We have at least 155 employers signed up,” said Dave Mullins, Director of the Business and Industry Institute at Hutchinson Community College. “We usually have around 100.” The participants are from businesses and industries across the board, he said. “Everyone is looking for employees,” Mullins said. “This is as tight a labor market as we’ve ever seen. There’s definitely upward pressure on wages.”
Source: Hutch News

Affordable housing is defined as housing that takes up no more than 30% of one’s income. In Topeka, the median household income was $49,647 per year between 2016 and 2020. But the per capita income over the same time period was $28,420 per year according to statistics from the Census Bureau. That’s before taxes are taken and translates to $2,368 per month. … Such advocacy groups as Topeka JUMP, Habitat for Humanity and Cornerstone of Topeka try to find and/or provide affordable housing. Members of those organizations say they need more action from the Topeka City Council, however. Some first steps have been taken: In July 2019, the city council unanimously approved a motion that would establish a housing trust fund. This would offer housing developers like Habitat for Humanity and Cornerstone another source of funding.
Source: CJonline

As a reminder, all Non-Entitlement Units of government (NEUs) that accepted funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) are required to submit the first Project and Expenditure Report to the US Treasury by the deadline of April 30, 2022.   

NEUs are required to have an active SAM.gov registration to complete reporting for ARPA funds. Please check your SAM.gov account before the April 30, 2022, reporting deadline to ensure that the registration has not expired. The US Treasury Department is also implementing a transition from DUNS numbers to UEI (Unique Entity Identifier) numbers. An UEI number is automatically assigned to your city when you register with SAM.gov. You can also find this information on your SAM.gov profile. 

If you have any ARPA reporting questions such as the identity of the Authorized Representative or Point of Contact (POC), need signed awards documents (to include budget documentation) or have project and expenditure report questions, reach out to the Office of Recovery using the CONTACT US link on the Office of Recovery website.   

For issues relating to reporting portal access, changing the Authorized Representative to access the portal or general reporting portal troubleshooting, e-mail the US Treasury directly at SLFRP@Treasury.gov. Reporting resources and technical assistance webinars released by Treasury can be found here. 

If you update the Authorized Representative with Treasury, please also notify the Office of Recovery using the CONTACT US link to continue receiving resources and information from the Office of Recovery.   
Source: Kansas Office of Recovery

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.