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In an era of ever-increasing cost of living, the Kansas Legislature is focusing on property tax relief in the upcoming session on Monday. One constitutional amendment in particular will be up for discussion. The Cap Assessed Value Protection Amendment Bill affects the assessed value of your home. Assessed value is what property taxes are based on. If the bill passes, that value would not be allowed to increase more than 3% each year. Assessed value is not the same as appraised value. Appraised value is a fair market share set by a county appraiser. Around 11% of that number is assessed [...]

The City of Arkansas City has reorganized its Neighborhood Services Division to form a new Community Development Division, bringing all development-related services under one coordinated team. "This reorganization allows the City to better align planning, development and enforcement functions under one division," said Shana Adkisson, city spokesperson. "By coordinating these services, we can improve efficiency, provide clearer guidance for residents and developers, and better support long-term growth and neighborhood revitalization." The new division aligns planning and zoning, permitting, building inspections and code enforcement, supporting the City's Comprehensive Plan and City Commission goals. Read more: Cowley Post

One of the first things South Hutchinson City Administrator Jeff Schenk pursued when he took the position more than two years ago was rebranding the city’s image. “I want us to be a good neighbor, and it took a while for everyone to get on board with the rebranding,” Schenk said. “But now it’s starting to pay off.” The good neighbor mantra isn’t just new logos on the city’s website and other materials, it’s the overriding philosophy when it comes to not just how the city provides services to its residents but to its relationships with other Reno County governing bodies [...]

A new program aimed at recruiting remote workers to the Manhattan area experienced positive early results, local officials said Thursday. Representatives from the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce and Riley County Planning and Development updated the Riley County commission Thursday on efforts of MakeMyMove, a relocation incentive program that is also part of the state’s Home in the Heartland Initiative. Read more: themercury.com

The Kansas City Chiefs’ plan to build a new domed stadium on the Kansas side, along with a new training facility and headquarters in Olathe, would be supported by a special incentive package for entertainment and tourism draws. Called STAR bonds, for Kansas Sales Tax and Revenue bonds, this type of incentive involves issuing bond debt to cover part of a project’s price tag that is then paid back over a set period of time using sales tax revenues generated by retail and dining sales within a project’s defined boundaries. State and team officials last month unveiled a deal that would [...]

... a county may not implement a tax rebate program unless it is authorized by, and complies with, a state statutory scheme. Harper County instituted the Ad Valorem Rebate Program to offer tax rebates from county ad valorem property taxes to program participants. ... for the Rebate Program to be valid, it must be based on, and comply with, a state statutory tax rebate scheme. Read more: Kansas Attorney General Opinions

How dry has it been in Crawford County since early October? Very, very dry. In fact, according to the National Weather Service’s weather data at Atkinson Municipal Airport outside of Pittsburg, since Oct. 1, the airport area has received just two-hundredths of an inch, with that two-hundredth of an inch falling early Monday morning. Add wind speeds approaching 15 miles per hour throughout the past several weeks, and you get a very high risk of fire, which has prompted a burn ban. Burn bans have been issued nine times over the past two months. A new one was issued Monday morning [...]

That school bus drivers are in short supply is not news. Districts across the U.S. have been struggling to fill vacant positions for a long time. But in Pittsburg's USD 250, the situation is getting critical. Read more: - Latest Stories

The director of the Riley County Police Department says he rejects any suggestions that local police are siding with federal immigration enforcement or pushing back against it. “We don’t actively participate in immigration detention, but we do follow the law,” Brian Peete said. Peete joined Within Reason with Mike Matson Friday on News Radio KMAN, responding to controversy involving Manhattan Municipal Court Judge Sarah Barr, who reportedly asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to leave her courtroom Dec. 4. They were waiting to arrest a woman appearing on DUI and hit-and-run charges. Read more: News Radio KMAN

As freshmen legislators last year, Rep. Allen Reavis and Rep. Lon Pishny began having conversations about the unspoken impact state laws and regulations have on city and county governments. Bills were being debated, Reavis said, “and it just felt like the effect it would have on local government wasn’t being fully measured.” “If you’re a legislator who lives in a large city, you may not have the understanding of what happens in a small town with that same legislation,” he added. Read more: www.derbyinformer.com