News – Page 930 – Ranson Financial Group LLC

Shawnee pitches new TIF district to support infrastructure upgrades

info2022-10-30T22:20:39-05:00October 30th, 2022|

SHAWNEE, Kan. -- The City of Shawnee could soon create a new special tax district to support future infrastructure upgrades.... Unlike TIF districts requested by developers, the city will consider creating a conservation TIF district. The state defines conservation districts as areas in which at least 50% of buildings are more than 35 years old, that are not yet blighted, but could become blighted due to inadequate infrastructure, dilapidation or the deterioration of surrounding structures. ... Revenue generated by the TIF district would be earmarked for infrastructure improvements ... Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 - WDAF

Governor Laura Kelly Announces Nearly $2M to Boost Tourism Industry

info2022-10-30T22:13:47-05:00October 30th, 2022|

Governor Laura Kelly today announced that Kansas Tourism, in partnership with the Patterson Family Foundation, is providing nearly $2 million to eight tourism projects across the state to enhance the state’s growing tourism industry. ... The TASK recipients and amounts awarded: City of Great Bend Convention & Visitors Bureau, Barton County, $337,500 Flint Hills Discovery Center, Riley County, $200,000 Grassroots Art Center, Russell County, $172,226 Horse Thief Reservoir Benefit District, Hodgeman County, $299,918 Johnson County Park & Recreation District, Johnson County, $201,168 Miners Hall Museum Foundation, Crawford County, $337,500 Strataca: Kansas Underground Salt Museum, Reno County, $174,750 The Nature Conservancy, Logan [...]

Derby updates revamped Neighborhood Maintenance Grant program

info2022-10-30T22:12:53-05:00October 30th, 2022|

Looking to increase utilization, the city of Derby modified its previous neighborhood revitalization program earlier in 2022 – having spent a little over half of the allocated funding between 2016 and 2021. City staff reported on the success of the new Neighborhood Maintenance Grant program at the Oct. 25 Derby City Council meeting. With the success, updates to continue enhancing the new program in 2023 were presented for consideration, which the council approving them unanimously. Partly due to updates to property code enforcement, the revitalization program was reviewed to better assist low-to-moderate income homeowners. Source: Derby Informer | News

Wichita looking at regulations for short-term rentals

info2022-10-30T22:12:12-05:00October 30th, 2022|

Wichita City Council members are looking over a draft of recommendations for licensing and regulation of homes that are used as short-term rentals of seven days or less. The homes are offered through booking apps and web sites like Airbnb and Vrbo. Planning director Scott Wadle presented the draft recommendations to council members during a workshop meeting this week. He said short-term rentals became popular around 2008 with apps that were offering bookings, and there are around 475 rentals operating in Wichita, a higher number than previous years. ... The draft requirements include yearly licensing requirements, zoning requirements, limits on occupancy and [...]

Johnson County receives federal grant to create Mental Health Court

info2022-10-30T22:11:12-05:00October 30th, 2022|

Johnson County is on track to create a mental health court that will reduce the likelihood of people with severe mental illnesses returning to the criminal justice system. On Thursday, the Board of County Commissioners accepted a $309,766 grant from the Department of Justice to support the development of the Mental Health Court program. Johnson County Mental Health Center, in collaboration with the District Court and District Attorney’s Office, applied for the grant. The grant funds will be used for staff training and education, travel and research, developing program assessments and paying staff salaries associated with program implementation. Source: Johnson County [...]

SE Kansas Mining History preserved through donations

info2022-10-30T22:10:41-05:00October 30th, 2022|

Kansas Tourism announced this week that Miners Hall Museum will receive $337,500 to help preserve an important piece of SE Kansas Coal Mining History. The grant goes toward relocating and renovating a Page 618 Walking Dragline, which is a unique piece of coal mining machinery that was used to dig for coal in Cherokee County. This is only one of eighteen Page 618 Walking Draglines ever built and only one of two Page 618s still in existence. It will be the largest walking dragline preserved for public display in the U.S., and is the only restorable walking dragline of its kind known [...]

Downtown Pittsburg art district designation will open doors for new projects

info2022-10-30T22:09:38-05:00October 30th, 2022|

There's already a lot of public art in Downtown Pittsburg, and more of it is now on the way. Earlier this week, the Pittsburg City Commission gave its blessing to the creation of an arts district in the downtown area. Crista Cunningham is the president of the Pittsburg Artwalk Association, the group that has been pursuing the idea for the last year. She says the new designation will pave the way for even more public art in that part of town. "To hopefully enhance what's already happening, so if there's a way for those business owners to get grants using that [...]

Erie has best small library in state

info2022-10-30T22:08:54-05:00October 30th, 2022|

The Erie City Public Library has been named the Kansas Library Association’s Best Small Library in Kansas. Erie Library Director Julie Kent ... said she kind of just fell into doing the seed library. “When this whole thing started, when I got the grant for the greenhouse two or three years ago from the county, in my grant, I put in $50 for seeds.” She happened to find a five-gallon bucket of seeds on sale at Tractor Supply for $20. Then she thought she could probably get donations of seeds if she asked. She reached out to Baker Creek Seeds and [...]

Mobile library unveiled in Goddard

info2022-10-30T22:04:32-05:00October 30th, 2022|

On Oct. 17, the Goddard Public Library officially unveiled its new mobile library. The converted recreational vehicle will help the library expand its outreach. “We do a ton of outreach in the area,” said library director April Hernandez. The library does outreach activities through the Goddard School District, not just in the city itself. Hernandez said the mobile library will make it much easier to perform those services. The library has loads of crates and other items that previously needed to be loaded and unloaded for each event. Staff members thought it would be good to have a dedicated vehicle. Source: [...]

Municipal Bond Trends for October 28, 2022

info2022-10-30T08:44:05-05:00October 30th, 2022|

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS "investment grade" yields. Every issuer's credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.