info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Johnson County considers next steps to address countywide housing inequities

info2021-04-20T08:12:57-05:00April 20th, 2021|

Without the willingness of Johnson County’s elected leadership to work toward equitable, attainable housing solutions and achieve buy-in from residents, the challenges for people trying to afford to live here will probably only grow worse over time. That’s according to a report earlier this month to the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, when county leaders received an overview of the results of a housing study and considered next steps for the county to take. “To me, this is a shared responsibility,” said Julie Brewer, executive director of United Community Services of Johnson County, who led the discussion on April 8. [...]

The power of wastewater: $2M grant will help KSU researcher explore ways to clean, use it

info2021-04-20T07:53:08-05:00April 19th, 2021|

A $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will help Kansas State University researchers create new resources from sewage. The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced awards totaling $27.5 million for water infrastructure projects in 13 states, including Kansas. All the projects awarded by the Department of Energy focus on developing treatment techniques to produce renewable power, extract any chemicals and fertilizers from wastewater, and reuse water locally, while minimizing energy consumption and waste. The project at K-State receiving federal funding involves using what’s called an Integrated Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR). Associate professor of [...]

Kansas opts for bonding to help consumers with energy price shocks, transition from coal

info2021-04-20T07:54:29-05:00April 19th, 2021|

Gov. Laura Kelly signed bipartisan legislation stretching over time consumers’ payment of exorbitant natural gas costs incurred during the February freeze and to offer financial incentive for utility companies weighing transition from old coal plants to newer solar or wind sources of electricity. The law’s most immediate result would be issuance by public utilities such as Kansas Gas Service of ratepayer-backed bonds so customers had years instead of months to pay extraordinary utility bills. The long-term consequence was that investor-owned utilities, including Evergy, would be permitted to issue bonds covered by ratepayers that softened the risk of taking a step away [...]

A ‘Golden’ opportunity

info2021-04-20T08:04:18-05:00April 19th, 2021|

Nearly 300 residents in northern Miami County are taking matters into their own hands when it comes to protecting their rural property from future industrial growth and development. The group filed a petition Friday, April 9, in the Miami County Clerk’s Office to incorporate a new third class city named “Golden.” The city would encompass about nine square miles north of Hillsdale Lake, and the population would be 776, according to the petition’s documents. Jennifer Williams, who lives along Moonlight Road within the proposed city boundaries, filed the petition Friday after working with others during the past few weeks collecting more [...]

Real Estate market increasingly competitive amid pandemic

info2021-04-20T07:56:52-05:00April 19th, 2021|

So with those important middle income houses harder to come by, it’s made things difficult to grow a city’s population. But this hasn’t stopped Fort Scott City Manager Jeremy Frazier. He sees potential in some of the city’s other properties. Jeremy Frazier, Fort Scott City Manager, said, “What we discovered is that we have a lot of homes that are low to moderate income homes, and we have a few homes that are on the higher end of that scale.” So Fort Scott officials want to take advantage of these properties. “We’re trying to market those lots for in field development [...]

A day in the life of Kansas’ newest career: a wheat and wind farmer

info2021-04-20T07:57:14-05:00April 19th, 2021|

When Chance Jacobson graduated high school, he faced a conundrum likely familiar to many young people who grew up in the rural plains. He’d spent the past 18 years on his family farm about 40 miles east of Salina learning the trade from his father and grandfather. “I wanted to farm with my dad, and there just wasn’t enough money,” Jacobson said. “Between my dad and grandpa farming together, and for me to come in and be the third person in the operation, there just wasn’t really room for me.” He’d be the sixth generation farmer on this land if he [...]

Atchison area leaders discuss tax rebate program and future of sales tax

info2021-04-20T07:55:17-05:00April 19th, 2021|

The Atchison County and Atchison City Commission met jointly for the first time in three years to discuss a pair of hot button topics and the state of the city and county as a whole last Thursday at the Atchison Event Center. The two talking points of the meeting was the renewal of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program before the end of October and the future of the 1% Sales Tax. The tax rebate program is a five-year deal that is set to expire Oct. 31, 2021 after going into action October, 15 2016. Source: City Government | atchisonglobenow.com

New Nickerson-South Hutchinson superintendent has a passion for education, music

info2021-04-20T08:11:46-05:00April 19th, 2021|

For the newly named superintendent of Nickerson-South Hutchinson Schools, life is what you make of it. Along with his suit-andtie job of running a high school in Bennington, Curtis Nightingale is a musician. While attending Newton High School, he played the cornet in band and participated in musical theater, but it was in college where he realized his passion for the bass guitar and his love for several types of contemporary music – from 1950s and '60s classics to blues to heavy metal. “It was the guitar that struck me,” Nightingale said. Source: Hutch News.

Where Kansas’ public universities saw enrollment declines, private colleges found stability

info2021-04-19T07:30:19-05:00April 19th, 2021|

Matt Lindsey, KICA president, said he believes the phenomenon of better-than-expected enrollment at the private colleges is likely because of a few particular reasons. First, Kansas' independent colleges weren't immune to the same downward trend in Kansas high school students' college-going rate, which was exacerbated by the effect the pandemic had on first-year freshman enrollment rates all around the country. But any trends down in enrollment were buoyed by a significant increase in the number of out-of-state students, who Lindsey said might have seen the more rural Kansas as an "oasis" during spring and summer 2020, when students either finalized or [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for April 16, 2021

info2021-04-19T07:26:36-05:00April 19th, 2021|

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.

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