info, Author at Ranson Financial Group LLC

Goose reduction efforts working at Derby park

info2023-03-15T12:16:35-05:00March 15th, 2023|

For several years, Derby has dealt with issues of invasive geese – particularly on the east side of town, near High Park and Rock River Rapids. According to an annual report from Director of Public Works Robert Mendoza, those remediation efforts are working, as evidenced by the decreasing numbers seen in the city’s annual goose roundup efforts in 2022. While McConnell Air Force Base used to assist Derby through its water fowl harassment program, the city now partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Fish and Wildlife Service to help manage the geese at high park through the latter’s capture [...]

Reno County taking action after years of residents having high nitrate levels in water

info2023-03-15T08:51:11-05:00March 15th, 2023|

Reno County is working to find a new water source for some residents after another test showed high nitrate levels in Rural Water District 101, the district that serves the Yoder area. Water collected early last week had a nitrate level of 10.5 mg/L, which exceeds the Kansas and federal (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 mg/L for public water supply systems. The County says nitrates have increased due to people using inorganic fertilizers and because of animal manure in agricultural areas. Source: KSN-TV

These are the incentives Integra secured from Bel Aire, Sedgwick County

info2023-03-15T08:50:02-05:00March 15th, 2023|

Local governments agreed last week to support the Wichita-based Integra Technologies and its plans to build a nearly $2-billion semiconductor facility in Bel Aire by passing a series of incentives, as well as pledging support necessary for the company to go after federal funding. It marks the "beginning of a very long partnership," Integra president and CEO Brett Robinson said during a March 7 Bel Aire City Council meeting. Integra announced last month plans to build a 1 million square-foot production facility on a 100-acre site at the southeast corner of K-254 and Rock Road. The project is expected to create 2,500 jobs [...]

Cities’ Credit Ratings Are at Risk Because There Aren’t Enough Accountants

info2023-03-14T17:45:04-05:00March 14th, 2023|

Municipalities across the US are at risk of having their credit ratings downgraded or withdrawn by S&P Global Ratings because staffing shortages have delayed financial disclosure documents. S&P has placed 149 long-term, underlying and program ratings on a negative credit watch this year because the ratings company hasn’t received 2021 financial statements from the issuers. That’s the most since at least 2018, and materially higher than the prior five-year average of 95 such moves, according to S&P data. “If we don’t have the financials, then bondholders don’t have the financials,” Jaime Blansit, a rating associate at S&P, said in an interview. [...]

Fed’s Tightening Plans Collide With SVB Fallout

info2023-03-14T13:12:14-05:00March 14th, 2023|

The collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank give Federal Reserve policy makers two good reasons to hold off on raising rates when they meet next week. But the latest run of economic data can only serve to remind them why, until last week anyway, they planned to keep raising rates. Investors’ expectations for the Fed have been whipsawing this year. Early on there were hopes that cooler inflation would lead the Fed to raise its range on overnight rates by a final quarter point at its March meeting, and then go on hold. A monster January employment report and [...]

Banks got hammered by SVB’s collapse. But the Fed might still raise rates

info2023-03-14T13:11:49-05:00March 14th, 2023|

A joint guarantee by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation wasn't enough to stop the bank rout. Regional banks were hammered by the second- and third-largest bank collapses in U.S. history. ... Despite the turmoil in the banks, markets and analysts expect the Fed to go through with rate hikes. If the Fed pauses, it would "invite markets and the public to assume that the Fed's inflation fighting resolve is only in place up to the point when there is any bumpiness in financial markets or the real economy," explained Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst. Source: [...]

Kansas sales tax cut on food would cost local governments $180M. Here’s what might happen.

info2023-03-14T08:30:42-05:00March 14th, 2023|

If a Kansas Senate plan to exempt food from state and local sales taxes becomes law, local governments could be facing a collective $180 million shortfall, leaving little option but to raise property taxes if the state doesn't compensate them. Senators passed the bill last month knowing that local governments would lose what was then an unknown amount of revenue, but promised to follow up with a plan to make them whole. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, did so on Thursday, rolling out a plan that would put a one-time payment of $220 million into a fund that local governments could [...]

Kansas marks 33 years since deadly F-5 ‘Hesston tornado’

info2023-03-14T08:47:37-05:00March 13th, 2023|

On this day in 1990, a deadly F-5 tornado ripped through the town of Hesston in Harvey County. The twister was on the ground for nearly 50 miles and, at one point, merged with a sister tornado nearby. Two people were killed as a result of the storm. A 6-year-old boy huddled with his family near the town of Burrton died when a chimney collapsed into the home's basement. In the Marion County town of Goessel, an elderly woman lost her life in the storm. Harvey County alone sustained more than $25 million in damages. More than 200 homes and 20 [...]

Groundwater levels fall across western and south-central Kansas

info2023-03-13T22:52:42-05:00March 13th, 2023|

Northwest Kansas GMD 4, which saw well-below-average precipitation in 2022, experienced a drop of 1.31 feet in 2022 groundwater levels after declines of 0.53 feet in 2021 and 0.70 feet in 2020. GMD 4 covers Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan and parts of Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Graham, Wallace, Logan and Gove counties. Groundwater there is pumped from the Ogallala aquifer and shallow alluvial sources associated with streams. Even the well-known Sheridan 6 Local Enhanced Management Area, the first area of its kind of organized, local groundwater conservation efforts, struggled this year with larger water-level declines. Source: KAKE - News

How local leaders are addressing spike in property valuation

info2023-03-13T22:51:41-05:00March 13th, 2023|

At the beginning of this week, the Sedgwick County Appraiser's Office had three appeals. As of Wednesday afternoon, that number jumped to 98 appeals (with an anticipated total of more than 5,000 this year). "I have spoken with friends and neighbors and real estate clients that have had 15-20 percent or more tax evaluation increases in one year," Realtor Toni Titus said. Titus says in her 22 years as a realtor, she's never seen Sedgwick County property valuations increase by this much. Source: KSN-TV

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