Armed with a new economic report, Kansas officials touted jobs data while warning that the workforce continues to face a challenge of not enough laborers. “It’s simple: we need more humans in Kansas to keep up with the phenomenal economic growth our state is experiencing,” said Lt. Gov. David Toland, who is also the Commerce secretary.
Source: Salina Journal
According to the most recent economic snapshot from Pittsburg State’s Kelce College of Business, Crawford County’s gross domestic product grew by 8.8 percent between 2015 and 2024. That was greater than the rest of the state. The number of middle-income households also increased by 9 percent in Pittsburg and by 3 percent in the county, as a whole. Statewide, this increase was only 0.1 percent and 0.9 percent nationally. The Kelce report states that local households are on a strong financial foundation that will benefit when interest rates begin to decline. As the economic center of southeast Kansas, 65 percent of Pittsburg’s workforce are commuters, which is a very high proportion, according to the Bureau of the Census. The issue is housing. There are multiple housing projects on-going throughout the city, ranging from apartments to single-family homes at all price points. While the number of residences grows, it is slow and there is not enough to meet demand.
Source: Morning Sun
A parade of dump trucks carried away what remained of the camp where people were living behind the Amtrak station in East Lawrence throughout the day Wednesday, including memorials for camp residents who had died. The City of Lawrence Homeless Response Team gave Amtrak residents two months’ notice that the camp was closing. But, as many people in houses would likely not start moving months before they’re evicted, many of the camp residents wanted to stay there until the day they had to leave. Many camp residents had anticipated that the full cleanup of the camp would start at 8 a.m. Tuesday, which was the day the city had told them they’d have to leave. The city had cleared a major campsite previously on the closure date.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday said it’s important to keep City Hall downtown before voting 3-2 against the purchase of a building near Sixth and Iowa to become the city’s new home. City staff members had asked the commission to approve the purchase of a building, at 2000 Bluffs Drive, that would require an estimated $11.7 million in remodeling on top of a $4.2 million purchase agreement. That’s $15.9 million total, which is almost $4 million more than the commission had budgeted, so a future budget amendment would be necessary. The current City Hall, at 6 E. Sixth St., was built in 1980. It’s about 35,500 square feet, which city staff members and consultants with local design studio Multistudio say is no longer enough space for staff. In addition, staff of Planning and Development Services and Lawrence Municipal Court currently work in space in the Riverfront building next door that is leased for $300,000 per year.
Source: The Lawrence Times
At least one-quarter of short-term rentals in Wichita have yet to comply with new licensing regulations by the city, which went into effect last month. It could result in dozens of criminal charges being filed against non-compliant property owners, city officials say. The city passed new regulations last year for short-term rentals like AirBnBs and VRBOs, as the businesses grew more common throughout Wichita. The new code was meant to formalize the short-term rental market in Wichita because the city’s former zoning code technically made it illegal to rent out most residential properties for less than seven days. The new codes required short-term rentals to get licensed by the end of September. To do so, most property owners have to first change their property’s zoning code, a step neighbors can protest. But 126 of the approximately 470 short-term rental listings in Wichita don’t have a license or haven’t started the process to acquire one, city officials recently shared.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
A large pedestrian and bicycle bridge is part of a plan for economic development around the Kansas River in Manhattan. Representatives of Anderson Knight Architects and the RiverFrontMHK committee on Thursday unveiled a development plan to officials from the Manhattan city, Riley County and Pottawatomie County commissions. The proposed RiverFrontMHK plan would connect downtown Manhattan to the Kansas River with a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to provide a direct link between downtown and new riverfront amenities.
Source: 1350 KMAN
The Manhattan-Ogden school board discussed AI policies at its meeting Wednesday. The three-page document directs students to keep use of generated content appropriate for school, to check for information accuracy, and to consider privacy concerns and content copyright. The guide also advises students not to depend on AI generated content for assignments but to use it as a resource when it is appropriate.
Source: 1350 KMAN
The Rock Creek Board of Education Monday night discussed a question that will be placed on the November ballot regarding the creation of a recreation department that would serve the Rock Creek area.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Manhattan city commissioners are split on allowing a developer to use more than $2 million in tax breaks and assistance to turn the downtown Commerce Bank building into retail and residential space. Officials from Hutton Development on Tuesday requested a 10-year property tax abatement, a sales tax exemption on construction materials and for the city to pay for half the cost of improvements to Poyntz Avenue as they seek to buy the building at 727 Poyntz Ave., tear it down and construct a new one with retail space on the ground floor and residential space above. Commissioners John Matta and Jayme Minton favored fulfilling the request, while commissioners Peter Oppelt and Karen McCulloh had concerns about it.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Some of Kansas’ largest cities are struggling to gain full returns on tax increment financing districts meant to help bolster development activity and property values, a recent state audit found. TIF districts, as they are called, are intended to fund real estate projects that otherwise wouldn’t exist. The idea is that the development will increase property values in the designated district, resulting in higher property tax collections that are used to pay off the bonds that financed the project. State auditors surveyed six TIF districts from Kansas’ largest cities and found that half did not recover their costs in a timely manner. Most experienced construction delays and recorded increased crime rates after development finished. At least one city calculated its TIF collection incorrectly. Auditors presented their findings to legislators at an Oct. 7 committee hearing. Most of the districts surveyed saw benefits, but whether those benefits were worth the investment is subjective, the audit found.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
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