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Saline County, City of Salina discuss radio needs

info2018-07-18T10:07:29-05:00July 18th, 2018|

Assistant County Administrator Andrew Manley said city and county officials are continuing to discuss radio needs in Saline County. Last month, a study of Salina and Saline County’s emergency communications equipment, used by firefighters, law enforcement and emergency medical services, revealed problems with coverage and reliability. Manley said he has been in discussions with Emergency Management Director Hannah Stambaugh; Communications Supervisor Wayne Pruitt, who manages the 911 Communications Center; and County Administrator Rita Deister to discuss upgrading Saline County’s radio infrastructure. Manley said they discussed cost estimates, bonding options and how to divide costs between Salina and Saline County. (Read more: [...]

Close two libraries, cut economic development, add police, says Wichita budget plan

info2018-07-18T10:06:08-05:00July 18th, 2018|

City Hall’s new proposed budget would shutter two libraries and slice economic development by a third, while adding police officers and increasing spending for street maintenance. Public libraries in two of Wichita’s lower-income neighborhoods — Evergreen and Linwood — would close over the next two years under the proposal from City Manager Robert Layton. The plan would cut economic development funding by a third, with all of the remaining money going to the Greater Wichita Partnership, a public-private consortium. The budget also would add 32 positions to the police department next year. And it would increase the street maintenance budget to [...]

Hutch and Reno County absorb surprise hit from state on internet sales tax distribution for June, July

info2018-07-18T07:44:31-05:00July 18th, 2018|

Hutchinson and Reno County officials learned last week that the state was cutting their sales tax distributions for June and July due to apparent overpayments made to local government entities more than five years ago. The state did not notify officials of the decision, but after the county’s allocation for its Compensating Use Tax – which is the tax collected by retailers on Internet and catalog sales – showed up as 0 in the June allocation report, County Administrator Gary Meagher called the Kansas Department of Revenue to find out what was going on. “I talked to several people before I [...]

Wichita to close golf course, libraries, add officers

info2018-07-18T07:42:59-05:00July 18th, 2018|

Changes are coming to the City of Wichita and it all has to do with money. As a part of the 2019-2020 budget, the city will close Clapp Golf Course, Linwood Library and possibly Evergreen Library. The city will also change the way it handles animal services. City Manager Bob Layton says Wichita is collecting less sales tax because of internet shopping and gathering less cable and landline phone franchise tax because people aren't using them as much. He says the budget is moving Wichita into the 21st century. A group came to Tuesday's city council meeting concerned about cuts to [...]

Topeka voters to consider 10 more years for half-cent sales tax

info2018-07-18T07:41:05-05:00July 18th, 2018|

Topekans will vote Nov. 6 on whether to extend the citywide, half-cent sales tax used to finance street work for 10 more years, through Oct. 1, 2029. City governing body members voted 8-2 Tuesday evening, with council members Sylvia Ortiz and Jeff Coen dissenting, to approve a resolution scheduling that election. In expressing her objections, Ortiz noted that the question that will go on the ballot would arrange for revenue from the renewed tax, like the current one, to be spent only to cover “costs of maintenance and improvements of existing streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, alleys and street lighting.” She said [...]

Cuba, Kansas: A Place for Life … New photo exhibit to document ‘tenacity’ of town at 150th celebration

info2018-07-18T07:39:51-05:00July 18th, 2018|

It's the town that refused to die. That was photographer Jim Richardson's goal some 40 years ago--to document the demise of a rural community in Kansas. He picked Cuba-just down the road from his hometown of Belleville. Richardson photographed the everyday life of the town through his tenures at the Topeka Capital-Journal and the Denver Post, and later for National Geographic magazine. But the community refused to cooperate with Richardson's plans. July 20 and 21 the community will celebrate its 150th birthday during the Cuba Harvest Festival. One of this year's features will be an exhibit of 60 of Richardson's photographs [...]

New development planned for Delano district

info2018-07-18T07:37:09-05:00July 18th, 2018|

Christopher Parisho has lived in Delano for the last ten years and with two kids at home, he’s made it his mission to make sure the district he knows and loves stays family friendly. “We were trying to get them to just change the uniform,” Parisho said. With a new sports bar, called ‘Tight Ends,’ going in to the Delano district on the northeast corner of S Seneca and University, Parisho has some concerns—mainly what the waitresses have to wear. “At first they seemed willing to listen but then when it came down to it, they were just like, ‘Well, we’re [...]

Salina city commission looks at fees, taxes

info2018-07-18T07:31:48-05:00July 18th, 2018|

Salina city commissioners Monday took a look at a 2019 budget that could include a property tax increase of up to nearly 3 mills, fee increases of 2 to 3 percent and raises for city employees of between 2 and 5 percent. The final budget will be set in August. As a working proposition, the commission consensus was to consider increasing the city’s property tax levy to 29 mills, from 26.129 mills. Property tax valuations are usually stagnant in a strong economy, Gage said. Sales tax collections, which the city also uses to fund projects, typically increase 1.5 percent to 2 [...]

Barton County Commission hesitant to give nod to project request for tax credit program

info2018-07-18T07:25:04-05:00July 18th, 2018|

The building where E&E Glass once operated may have a new life soon, should Rosewood Services succeed in acquiring a grant from the state to offer tax credits to fund its renovation. But, a request for a letter of support backing Rosewood’s application for the Kansas Department Of Commerce Community Service Tax Credit Program was tabled until next week in order for commissioners to look further into who exactly will benefit from the proposed renovations. If approved, the tax credit program would be used to remodel the property at 1117 Williams St., and open the Rosewood Creations Center, said Anna Hammond-Bodine, [...]

Ford County talks transportation task force

info2018-07-18T07:11:24-05:00July 18th, 2018|

At Monday’s Ford County Commission meeting, County Engineer Jon Halbgewachs brought the commission’s attention to a recently-created task force which could impact area roadways with its work. “My understanding is that their duty is to then, throughout the summer and going into the fall and winter, set up kind of town hall meetings across the state like they did in the last (Kansas Department of Transportation) transportation program when they did the listening tour, if you will,” Halbgewachs said. Either Dodge City or Garden City are typically stopping points for such tours, Halbgewachs said. “Where I’m going with this is this [...]

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