News

Topeka is rolling out a new communications tool to help locals find answers to their questions fast. The City of Topeka announced on Tuesday, March 25 that it has created a new hotline for people who have questions about city services. People will soon be able to call "311" for non-emergency needs. Callers will be sent directly to the city department best suited to answer the questions they have. City Manager Robert Perez said the 311 hotline should help streamline customer service. Source: KSNT 27 News

LaHarpe residents gathered Tuesday evening for a community conversation hosted by Thrive Allen County. The discussion focused on improvements to infrastructure, roads, housing, economic development, and civic engagement. Source: The Iola Register

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. Every issuer's credit is different, and other financing sources may be available. To obtain comprehensive Financial Advisory services for your local government, contact your Ranson Financial Municipal Advisor, Larry Kleeman, or Henry Schmidt.

Wichita is looking to cash in on its own waste. The city is moving forward with plans to sell off biogas, mainly methane, from one of its wastewater treatment plants. Waste that gets pumped into treatment plants creates biogas, which is known to be able to be converted into renewable natural gas, or RNG. Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

Amazon is expanding its footprint in Kansas with plans to build a 176,000-square-foot last-mile facility that will create roughly 100 jobs in Bel Aire. The city said Tuesday that the online retail giant has bought 20 acres in the Sunflower Commerce Park in Bel Aire to meet growing customer demand. This marks the company’s third facility in the Wichita metro area, a city of Bel Aire news release said. Source: Homepage

Rep. Blake Carpenter (R-Derby) recently pitched a novel idea to lawmakers that he says could eliminate state property tax collections within eight years without cutting any services the state provides. In a nutshell, here’s how it works: The Legislature creates a board that is empowered to review and eliminate sales tax exemptions, boosting state revenues to the tune of $2 billion per year. That money flows into a Freedom From Taxes Fund, which grows until it reaches a point where annual interest is enough to fully offset the 21.5 mills the state assesses to fund public schools. Eventually, the fund could [...]

Harvey County decided to move forward with a City of Newton partnership for road improvements along East First Street from Spencer to Oliver. The county first heard the request in mid-March, when city commissioners approached the county, asking for a partnership on the project. The city commissioners said this would be a show of unity between the two governing bodies and would be a good signal for developers considering the area. Source: Harvey County Now

The Shawnee Mission school board could soon finalize new procedures aimed at addressing disparities in school-based donations. One goal of the move is to more closely scrutinize funds raised to pay for additional staff positions. To prevent inequity in donations that may allow some schools to gain educational advantages over others, the school board’s policy committee on Monday afternoon reviewed a draft of an updated district donation policy as well as a procedure for reviewing so-called community-funded staff positions. Source: Johnson County Post

The idea to bring a single citywide trash hauler Merriam may soon come to fruition. The Merriam City Council during a Monday work session directed city staff to negotiate a single waste hauler contract with GFL Environmental Inc., a Canadian waste hauler that services several other northeast Johnson County cities. Out of four companies that offered bids, GFL came in as the lowest bidder at just more than $830,000 a year. That contract would translate to a monthly cost of about $23 per residence (about $3 more to cover administrative costs, as allowed in state statute). Source: Johnson County Post