News – Page 316 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Commerce Announces First Regional Water Project for Rural Kansas

info2024-07-31T09:44:30-05:00July 31st, 2024|

The Kansas Department of Commerce announced today a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award for the first regional water project in over a decade. This project will provide improved water access to residents in Coffeyville and Caney. The total cost of the project is $7,894,325, with a $1 million grant from the CDBG program. Additional funding is being provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). “This vital and groundbreaking partnership will significantly improve water infrastructure and ensure reliable access to clean water for residents in Caney and Coffeyville, exemplifying the tremendous value of regional collaboration,” Lieutenant Governor and [...]

Cash Managers’ Interest Rate Quandary

info2024-07-31T09:42:50-05:00July 31st, 2024|

Public cash managers today face a strategic dilemma: They can sit on money market funds, local government investment pools and ultra-short investments like repurchase agreements, all of them still yielding the highest interest rates available today. Or they can look out into 2025 and try to lock in some less spectacular but still healthy longer-term yields in anticipation of lower short-term rates next year, if and when the Federal Reserve cuts its overnight rates on the view that inflation has been tamed. The problem today is that markets have already begun to anticipate a lower-rate environment next year, and thus longer [...]

AWWA, RCAP launch partnership to help small, rural community water service

info2024-07-30T10:31:35-05:00July 30th, 2024|

The American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) in July announced the renewal of their Cooperative Agreement, reaffirming their commitment to collaborate on improving water infrastructure and services for small and rural communities across the United States. This renewed agreement builds upon a long-standing partnership between the two organizations, leveraging their combined expertise and resources to address critical water challenges faced by rural communities. The partnership will focus on providing technical assistance, training and advocacy support to enhance water system management, promote community resilience, and ensure the protection of public health and the environment. “AWWA is [...]

Investors Embrace Bond Funds Before Rates Start to Fall

info2024-07-30T10:29:36-05:00July 30th, 2024|

The stock market may be roaring, but 2024 has been Wall Street’s year of the bond fund. Bonds are paying the highest yields in a generation and interest rates are poised to come down. Meanwhile, a record number of retirees are looking to cut risk in their portfolios. That combination has investors pouring money into both indexed and actively managed funds. Wall Street is seeing dollar signs. U.S.-listed fixed-income exchange-traded funds have taken in nearly $150 billion through late July, a record through this point in a year. When looking at mutual funds and ETFs together, taxable bond funds were responsible [...]

This week’s meeting of Fed officials will be one of the most consequential in a while, even if the central bankers aren’t likely to cut interest rates this time and instead look ahead to September.

info2024-07-30T10:27:28-05:00July 30th, 2024|

While Federal Reserve officials aren’t likely to change interest rates in the coming week, their meeting will nonetheless be one of the most consequential in a while. At each of their four meetings this year, interest-rate cuts have been a question for later. This time, though, inflation and labor-market developments should allow officials to signal a cut is very possible at their next meeting, in September. As a result, the coming week’s meeting, which wraps up Wednesday, could resolve the trade-off Chair Jerome Powell has been weighing between the risks of cutting rates too soon and waiting too long, in favor [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for July 29, 2024

Henry Schmidt2024-07-30T09:25:22-05:00July 30th, 2024|

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.

Could a sales tax in Sedgwick County reduce property taxes?

info2024-07-29T14:49:41-05:00July 29th, 2024|

Voters in Sedgwick County could be asked next year to support a new sales tax that would fund arts, culture and recreation programming. ... Funding those programs through a sales tax instead would allow the county to lower its property tax levy by between two and a half and three mills, likely starting in 2026 or 2027. Commissioners want to present voters with a ballot question about a sales tax no later than fall 2025. Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Wichita police quietly tested gunshot-detection tech for 2 years. Now they’re ready to expand it.

info2024-07-29T13:37:44-05:00July 29th, 2024|

The Wichita Police Department plans to purchase around 144 gunshot sensors it’s tested since February 2022, officials said during a town hall meeting in June. Other than a brief mention of it when police talked about failures of the previous gunshot system in February 2023, which was the first time city and elected officials learned police had been testing the technology for more than a year, it was the first time the department spoke publicly about testing the controversial technology. The gunshot technology being implemented in Wichita has been controversial in other cities, including lawsuits, concerns about police bias and voice [...]

Could a sales tax in Sedgwick County reduce property taxes?

info2024-07-29T13:37:56-05:00July 29th, 2024|

Voters in Sedgwick County could be asked next year to support a new sales tax that would fund arts, culture and recreation programming. The Sedgwick County Zoo, Exploration Place science museum, the Kansas African American Museum and the county parks department are all set to take cuts in next year’s proposed county budget. Funding those programs through a sales tax instead would allow the county to lower its property tax levy by between two and a half and three mills, likely starting in 2026 or 2027. Commissioners want to present voters with a ballot question about a sales tax no later [...]

Rural Towns Are Aging, Cash-Strapped and in Desperate Need of Workers

info2024-07-29T14:44:41-05:00July 29th, 2024|

The challenge of both finding and affording workers faces small governments scattered around the U.S., and often leaves those still there to pick up the slack. ... Rural areas have long struggled to hang onto—or recruit—young residents launching their careers. Small-town officials say they face particular hurdles when it comes to offering competitive salaries to compete for workers. Source: Wall Street Journal