Ranson Financial, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Cluster of earthquakes in east Wichita shake south-central Kansas on Sunday

If you were woken up earlier than you would have liked Sunday morning after losing an hour to daylight savings time, it may have been due to earthquakes that rattled east Wichita. The Kansas Geological Survey recorded four earthquakes early Sunday morning. … More than 1,600 people reported feeling the strongest earthquake, according to USGS data as of 2 p.m. The vast majority of reports were from south-central Kansas. Additional reports came from near Salina and near Emporia. … The Kansas Corporation Commission previously determined that the swarm of earthquakes in November and December was not related to fracking. “Based on our investigation, KCC staff does not believe the seismicity in Wichita, Kansas is tied to any oil and gas activities in the area,” said Ryan Hoffman, director of the KCC Conservation Division, in a Dec. 23 statement.
Source: Wichita News

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:56:14-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Kansas sees its best week of cases in more than eight months

The dropping trend of COVID-19 cases in Kansas continues. The past week in Kansas saw 1,887 new cases, the lowest week since the end of June. The weekly high of cases was more than 19,000 cases at the end of November. From there, it ebbed and flowed before starting to drop in all but one consecutive week so far this year. Friday’s report from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment listed an additional 519 cases, continuing the trend of fewer cases. Each one of the thrice-weekly reports from Sept. 18 to Feb. 19 listed cases in the thousands. The high was more than 7,500 cases on Nov. 23. Each weekly report so far in March has been under 1,000.
Source: Wichita News

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:54:34-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Welcome to the only county in Kansas that doesn’t have a COVID emergency

Greetings from Chautauqua, the only county in Kansas where COVID-19 isn’t an emergency. This bucolic and remote county, nestled on the Oklahoma border 100 highway miles southeast of Wichita, is the only place in Kansas that isn’t under a COVID disaster emergency declaration, according to the Kansas Association of Counties. “We didn’t feel like we needed it,” said Rodney Shaw, who serves on the three-member County Commission that doubles as the Board of Public Health. If you wear a mask in Sedan, the Chautauqua County seat, you might as well hang a sign around your neck saying “Not From Around Here.” Coming here is like stepping back into 2019, those halcyon days before a global contagion that would kill an estimated 2.6 million people, including more than 527,000 Americans.
Source: Wichita News

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:53:24-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Local government groups present ‘bond modernization agenda’ to Congress

Local government groups told a House committee Thursday the reinstatement of tax-exempt advance refunding and tax credit bonds are top priorities for infrastructure financing, part of a “bond modernization agenda.” They also highlighted the importance of raising the limit on bank-qualified debt to $30 million as part of that effort. … Mayor Stephen K. Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina, a former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, described the reinstatement of direct-pay tax credit bonds through another round of Build America Bonds as “an excellent complement” to municipal bonds. Although all of the proposals have some bipartisan support in Congress, the extent of that support remained unclear at the hearing.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:48:37-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Senate sends Kansas property tax reform package to governor

Sen. Caryn Tyson urged fellow senators Thursday to endorse “historic” property tax reform and overlook changes made by the House to lump school districts into the reform package for local governments. Tyson, a Republican from Parker, credited the late Sen. Bud Estes, a Dodge City Republican who died last month, with engaging her several years ago in the process of figuring out how to fix property tax problems in Kansas. “We are literally taxing people out of their homes,” she said in a speech on the Senate floor, shortly before the chamber adopted the law by a 30-5 vote. The end product would remove the loathed, state-imposed local property tax lid, exclude normal maintenance from property valuations, allow for payment plans, and require written notices and public hearings before raising taxes by any amount. Tax increases are measured by the dollar, rather than mill levy, to abolish the practice of raising taxes by increasing property valuations. Senate Bill 13 now goes to Gov. Laura Kelly for consideration.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:46:22-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Bill requires more property tax transparency

A bill that recently passed the Kansas House and Senate would remove the property tax lid enacted on governing bodies a few years ago, replacing it with a requirement to publish notices and hold a public hearing before exceeding their revenue neutral rate. The revenue neutral rate is what the mill levy has to be in order for property taxes to not be higher than the previous year. SB 13 requires governing bodies, such as city and county commissions, to publish legal notices and hold a public hearing before they can exceed their revenue neutral rate for property taxes, and discontinues the property tax lid enacted by the legislature a few years ago. It also prohibits property valuation increases solely as the result of normal repair, replacement or maintenance of existing structures, and establishes a payment plan for payment of both delinquent and non-deliquent property taxes. The bill also reimburses governing bodies for costs associated with publishing notices for the first two years.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:45:31-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Rural Americans in Pharmacy Deserts Hurting for COVID-19 Vaccines

As the Biden administration accelerates a plan to use pharmacies to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, significant areas of the country lack brick-and-mortar pharmacies capable of administering the protective shots. A recent analysis by the Rural Policy Research Institute found that 111 rural counties, mostly between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, have no pharmacy that can give the vaccines. That could leave thousands of vulnerable Americans struggling to find vaccines, which in turn threatens to prolong the pandemic in many hard-hit rural regions.
Source: KCUR News

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:44:53-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

Sedgwick County Commissioners reflect on one year of COVID-19 restrictions

“We didn’t really know what this virus was or how deadly it can be,” said Commissioner Lacey Cruse, as she reflects back on March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic began. A year ago today, March 13, Sedgwick County put its first restriction in place by creating a ban on gatherings of 250 people or more. Within a week of their first ban, Sedgwick County reported its first presumptive-positive COVID-19 case on March 19, 2020. “This thing was supposed to be just, if you recall, a couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months. By Summer we’ll be fine,” said Pete Meitzner, Sedgwick County Commission Chairman. Instead, it turned into months of meeting after meeting. The commission serving as the board of health faced tough decisions.
Source: KSN-TV

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:41:22-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

State grants set to improve broadband

Critically needed broadband will soon be available to more than a dozen Kansas communities after the first-round recipients of a state grant program were announced Thursday. The Broadband Acceleration Grant Program, created in fall 2020, aims to increase broadband access across the state through a 10-year, $85 million investment. The program is operated through the office of broadband development in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Eisenhower Legacy transportation program. The initial round provided $5 million in total grant awards to 14 projects in 18 communities; each recipient company matched the state grant it received.
Source: The Iola Register

Ranson Financial2021-03-15T07:39:45-05:00March 15, 2021|News|

City of Lawrence to pay 48 fire, police and other employees nearly $1M total in back overtime because of classification mistake

The City of Lawrence has agreed to pay nearly $1 million in back overtime to dozens of firefighter captains, police sergeants and other city employees. Following both an outside and internal review, the city determined it had mistakenly misclassified certain positions as not eligible for overtime when they actually were, according to a city news release Friday. As a result, the city will be paying back overtime totaling $998,600 to 21 fire captains, 24 police sergeants and three city planners. “The City has a responsibility to ensure employees are paid accurately and fairly,” Human Resources Director Lori Carnahan said in the release. “We are committed to correcting any underpayment of overtime to which our employees may be entitled. This is a complex computation and we have been working hard to get it right for our employees.”
Source: LJWorld.com.

Ranson Financial2021-03-14T09:56:49-05:00March 14, 2021|News|

About Ranson Financial

Cluster of earthquakes in east Wichita shake south-central Kansas on Sunday

Kansas sees its best week of cases in more than eight months

Welcome to the only county in Kansas that doesn’t have a COVID emergency

Local government groups present ‘bond modernization agenda’ to Congress

Senate sends Kansas property tax reform package to governor

Bill requires more property tax transparency

Rural Americans in Pharmacy Deserts Hurting for COVID-19 Vaccines

Sedgwick County Commissioners reflect on one year of COVID-19 restrictions

State grants set to improve broadband

City of Lawrence to pay 48 fire, police and other employees nearly $1M total in back overtime because of classification mistake

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