Municipal News & Jobs

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 Community Development Block Grant program provides funding for projects in rural, lower-income areas. Projects include infrastructure improvements, park renovations, and commercial building rehabilitation. In 2025, the state awarded $22 million to 50 communities, combined with $29 million in local matches.
Read more: CJonline

For assistance with grant applications and administration contact Ranson Financial.

Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced that $1 million in Attraction Development Grant funding was awarded to support the development and enhancement of tourism projects across Kansas. The Kansas Tourism grant program supports projects that strengthen visitors’ experiences while driving local economic growth through job creation, private investment and increased visitation. “Investments in tourism and our state attractions have been a powerful driver in economic growth for our communities of all sizes and for all of Kansas,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “By pairing state support with local commitment, we’re expanding tourism opportunities that create positive economic returns by bringing more out-of-state visitors and out-of-state dollars to Kansas.”
Read more: Kansas Department of Commerce

As both energy prices and inflation fears pop, expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts are sliding. Traders in recent days have abandoned hopes of an early summer easing from the central bank, a change in thinking that coincided with the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran and a burst in oil prices to around $100 a barrel. Prior to the conflict, the market anticipation had been for a quarter percentage point rate reduction in June, likely another one in September, and on outside chance of even three depending on how the economics played out, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch calculations. Much of the thinking behind that approach was that a softening labor market, moderating inflation and a new dovish chair coming on board in May would push the Fed into an easing posture. But at least as long as the Iran drama plays out the expectations now is that fighting inflation will remain paramount.
Read more: CNBC Bonds

America is in the midst of a property tax revolt. In 2024 and 2025, more than a dozen states passed laws meant to slash property taxes for homeowners. And in several states, including Florida, Georgia and Texas, policymakers want to go even further and eliminate homeowner property taxes altogether. These solutions may be politically appealing, but draconian measures are not the answer. They hobble local governments’ ability to raise necessary revenues to provide essential services for their residents and undermine progressivity in our tax system. In many cases, they amount to a solution in search of a problem. There are more efficient and targeted ways to address concerns about the property tax. Headline-grabbing legislative actions have been driven largely by concern that the surge in housing prices will lead to a similar spike in property tax bills. But overall, growth in property taxes has been far less dramatic. Since 2020, housing prices have grown more than 50 percent nationally. Over the same period, however, property tax revenues grew at about half that rate — roughly keeping pace with inflation and below the growth in personal income.
Read more: Governing: State and local government news and analysis

After 41 years in the fire service, including nine years as Fire Chief for the Hutchinson Fire Department, Chief Steve Beer will be retiring at the end of this month. During his leadership, the department achieved several major milestones, including earning ISO Class 1 status and becoming an Internationally Accredited Fire Department—both rare recognitions that reflect the department’s high standards and commitment to service. Chief Beer also led efforts to modernize the department’s apparatus fleet, spearheaded the development of the new Fire Station 1, and expanded the department’s training facility into a site that now attracts agencies from across the region. His leadership also helped guide the department’s strategic planning and foster collaboration across Kansas fire departments through the creation of the Kansas State Association of Fire Chiefs Roundtable meetings.
Read more: Ad Astra Radio

Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced that $1 million in Attraction Development Grant funding was awarded to support the development and enhancement of tourism projects across Kansas. The Kansas Tourism grant program supports projects that strengthen visitors’ experiences while driving local economic growth through job creation, private investment and increased visitation. “Investments in tourism and our state attractions have been a powerful driver in economic growth for our communities of all sizes and for all of Kansas,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “By pairing state support with local commitment, we’re expanding tourism opportunities that create positive economic returns by bringing more out-of-state visitors and out-of-state dollars to Kansas.” This round of Attraction Development Grant funding will support 22 projects, including new attractions and enhancements to existing tourism assets. Collectively, recipients will invest more than $12 million in matching funds to bring the projects to life.
Read more: Ad Astra Radio

The North Newton City Council decided to explore the idea of possible bicycle and e-bike regulations during its regular Monday night meeting. This matter arose at the February meeting, when Councilman Dennis Campbell brought up an e-bike accident that occurred in town. The person rode on the sidewalk on 24th Street, Campbell said. At that meeting, Campbell distributed a journal containing information about e-bike safety and cities with e-bike ordinances. This is a council-driven matter, City Administrator Brad Harris said. Mayor Ron Ratzlaff talked about information he brought, one of which was a summary of Newton’s related ordinances. Harris said staff wants to know what angle the council wants to take so they can research that particular aspect. He said he wanted to acknowledge certain classifications, with the lowest being that they require people to pedal and can’t go faster than 20 mph, regarding e-bikes.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Property owners who live outside of any city in Johnson County looking to use their property for short-term rentals will have new regulations designed to allow access to potential economic benefit while protecting quality of life for surrounding properties. The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners approved the new regulations on Thursday. The regulations apply to property owners who are hosting short-term stays of fewer than 30 nights. Before Thursday’s vote, Johnson County zoning regulations did not address short-term rentals. These new regulations can help ensure that potential hosts have a flexible and clear set of requirements to follow, while neighbors have an enforcement mechanism available if issues with a short-term rental arise. These new regulations will go into effect on April 1, in time for this summer’s FIFA World Cup 2026™.
Read more: Johnson County Kansas

The proposed STAR bond incentive district for the Kansas City Chiefs’ new stadium and team headquarters, announced late last year by Kansas and team officials, covers the bulk of Wyandotte County and a large swath of Johnson County. But Shawnee, one of the Johnson County cities included in the still-unfinalized district’s boundaries, wants to exempt some areas within its city limits, perhaps for a potential STAR bond district of its own. In December, the Chiefs announced plans to build a new $3 billion domed stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, along with a new training facility and headquarters in Olathe, supported by Kansas Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds. While Shawnee had “limited conversations” with the Chiefs about the team moving there, they discovered they didn’t make the cut. Instead, the city was included in the Kansas Department of Commerce’s draft for its Chiefs STAR bond district, which also includes most of Olathe and Lenexa, as well as nearly all of Wyandotte County. Still, there appears to be room for negotiation.
Read more: Johnson County Post

The city of Prairie Village turned 75 years old on Feb. 19, but the city’s year-long celebration kicks off later this month. Prairie Village’s 75th anniversary celebrations begin at the end of March and continue throughout the year until the city’s birthday party in October. Other northeastern Johnson County cities, including Merriam, Fairway, Leawood and Westwood, celebrated their 75th anniversaries in the past few years. The cities of Roeland Park and Mission are also celebrating their 75th anniversaries this year. Prairie Village Councilmember Inga Selders, who is the chair of the city’s 75th Anniversary committee and a lifelong resident, said she sees this milestone as an opportunity to build community with neighbors.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Spring Hill Police, along with other departments in southern Johnson County, rolled out online logs earlier this year detailing calls for service from the previous 24 hours — completing a countywide effort to encrypt emergency radio calls that attempts to still provide near real-time information about radio traffic to the community. A 2022 federal policy requires law enforcement to encrypt their radios, with the goal of protecting personal information like Social Security numbers and health conditions. In an effort to remain transparent while still encrypting their radio channels, agencies across Johnson County began transitioning to 24-hour call-for-service logs in 2024 that anyone can view online. The Spring Hill log breaks down the responding agency, incident identification number, the time and date, the nature of the call and the location.
Read more: Johnson County Post

For William Von Steiger, the unlikely first step toward a better life began two years ago with a burning car. Von Steiger, an Overland Park veteran who served a year as an Army paralegal specialist before his discharge in 2008, started the car fire during a particularly dark time, he said. “Coupled with drug and alcohol use and not knowing how else to deal with my emotions, it just was a really rough time,” he said. “I kind of lashed out at the world.” But with the military service (he said he was honorably discharged for medical and mental health reasons), the non-violent nature of the crime and his marijuana use, Von Steiger was eligible for a special diversion court for veterans in Johnson County that has been widely praised as a way for veterans to get their lives in order. The classes, the mentors, the counseling and medical help from the Veterans Administration helped Von Steiger manage the anger, stay sober and be a better parent, he said. He was among this year’s cohort of graduates of the county’s veterans treatment court.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Wichita State University launched a new system on Thursday that’s designed to collect data from across the state and store it in one place. The Kansas Data Trust can collect information like demographics and service utilization in a secure way that can be used by public agencies, researchers and nonprofit organizations. Nigel Soria, a research manager for the project, said those details will help answer difficult questions relating to issues like homelessness and education.
Read more: KSN-TV

A large crowd turned out Thursday for Sedgwick County’s town hall meeting on data centers. The Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners adopted a 90-day resolution — set to expire April 17 — to review and develop zoning regulations and pause any potential data center applications. Lori Kraus, a Colwich resident who spoke against the projects, said she wants commissioners to take constituents’ concerns seriously. “I spoke on national security,” she said. “I think it’s one topic that they did not address. Especially anyone in news, it’s very apparent that they are a soft target because the military does use these sites also, and this is a hyper-scale data center. I don’t think people realize how large this is. They have a thousand acres already leased in the Garden Plain area.”
Read more: KSN-TV

The Food Bank of Reno County celebrated the grand opening of its new facility in Hutchinson on Thursday. Lance Patterson, chairman of the food bank, said the new facility is five times larger than the previous one and is designed like a grocery store. “It’s really, really cool to see how much the community rallied around this project, how much people care about our community, and how much this looks and feels like a real grocery store,” Patterson said. Each person who visits the food bank will be given a certain number of points to spend based on the size of their family. There are also some staple items like juice and produce that don’t cost any points.
Read more: KSN-TV

As data centers remain a hot topic across the state, an informational meeting in Hutchinson on Thursday aimed to calm fears over the facilities. The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce hosted the event with state officials and energy and artificial intelligence companies. The speakers said they hoped to combat misinformation. They pushed for the positives, arguing that data centers drive economic growth by creating jobs and drawing business. The main concerns people express about data centers typically revolve around energy consumption, particularly the use of water.
Read more: KSN-TV

The Sedgwick County Board of County Commissioners will pause applications for battery energy storage systems for now. During Wednesday’s meeting, commissioners voted 5-0 to halt development until the county can come up with zoning regulations. The battery systems, commonly abbreviated as BESS, are used to store power when the demand is low and save it for when people need it. The county is also in the middle of deciding regulations for data centers.
Read more: KSN-TV

When Colton Glenn became Peabody fire chief at age 25, he found himself leading a department in a town where he had fire trucks race down streets as a kid. Despite seven years of firefighting experience, Glenn is one of the youngest fire chiefs leading a volunteer department in Kansas. “I never in a million years thought I’d end up becoming fire chief when I joined,” he said.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

Kansas legislators’ lineup of property tax relief legislation could chip away at state and local revenue, but some see the proposals as course correction, making up for years of rising property taxes. One bill would phase out Kansans’ property taxes in favor of added sales taxes, and another would exempt seniors from paying property taxes that go toward funding school districts. But legislators, who have eagerly pursued tax relief legislation in recent years, were conflicted about the proposals. Sen. Mike Murphy, a Sylvia Republican, said Tuesday that the Legislature needs to look at property tax relief differently. Past measures haven’t made much of a dent, he said, and he often hears from constituents who are struggling to pay their property taxes.
Read more: The Lawrence Times