Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

No violation found in ethics complaint against Wichita Mayor Lily Wu

The City of Wichita Ethics Board met on Tuesday to discuss a complaint against Wichita Mayor Lily Wu. On Oct. 23, the president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 135, Ted Bush, signed a complaint alleging three violations by Wu: Wu “improperly instructed” Wichita Fire Chief Tammy Snow to lay off 42 WFD employees during a private meeting; Wu interfered with or expressed improper interest in the City hiring process; Wu did not act by majority vote and gave instructions as an individual council member to a department head. Both Wu and Bush provided the Ethics Board with their side of the story, including documentation and recordings. Source: KSN-TV

Survey shows early response to Wichita Public Schools $450M bond proposal

The Wichita Board of Education has an early idea of how the vote on a $450 million bond proposal for Wichita Public Schools could go in a couple of months. A research firm conducted a phone survey in mid-November and presented the results during Monday’s BOE meeting. Of the 301 people surveyed, 77.6% said they were in favor of the bond proposal. At first, 36% were opposed, but some switched to favoring the proposal when they were told the $450 million bond would not change the current tax rate or mill levy. You can expect to hear a lot about the proposal over the next few months. The vote is scheduled for Feb. 25 and will be for registered voters living in the Wichita school district.
Source: KSN-TV

Emporia city manager calls Tyson layoffs a major ‘setback’

A major employer is set to lay off hundreds of employees in the Emporia area. The city manager there calls it a “setback” for the community. The Kansas Department of Commerce (KDOC) shows on its website that a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) was filed by Tyson Food, Inc. on Dec. 2. It impacts 809 employees at the Tyson Fresh Meats location at 2101 West Sixth Street in Emporia. WARN notices are required by employers under federal law to provide advance warning to workers when a plant closure or mass layoffs are imminent. It is to help workers and their families find enough time to adjust to the situation and find new employment.
Source: KSN-TV

New USDA pilot program will help rural homeowners

The United States Department of Agriculture has chosen Kansas as one of 25 states and U.S. territories to participate in a new pilot program. The USDA says the pilot program under the Single Family Housing Home Repair Loans and Grants program will help homeowners in rural areas more quickly make needed repairs to their homes in areas placed under a Presidential Disaster Declaration or live in Rural Partner Network communities. Many contractors require a 50% upfront before ordering materials and work begins. Under the pilot program, suppliers will be paid directly or to the contractor after receipt of a paid invoice. The USDA says the new pilot program will help homeowners make needed repairs or improvements to their homes while preventing fraud. Under the Single Family Housing Home Repair Loans and Grants program, low-income homeowners can receive loans of up to $40,000, and those over 62 can receive grants of up to $10,000. The 20-year term loans have a 1% interest rate. For those over 62, the loans can be combined with the grant for a maximum lifetime total of $50,000.
Source: KSN-TV

Municipal Bond Trends for December 2, 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.

Tyson Foods says it will close 809-employee facility in Emporia by mid-February

Tyson Foods on Monday announced to employees it would close its facility in Emporia in February 2025. The plant has more than 800 employees.
Source: CJonline

This is the only band from Kansas to ever march in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade

In 1974, 400 marching bands applied to participate in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Only 14 were chosen. One of them hailed from a small town in northeast Kansas. To this day, in the 100-year history of the famous holiday parade, it is the only band from Kansas that has ever participated, Macy’s officials confirmed for The Star this week. Which makes what Wamego High School pulled off 50 years ago something of a miracle on 34th Street — performing in front of the famous department store in New York City on national TV.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Donald Trump’s EV tax credit takeback could undermine Panasonic’s DeSoto plant | Opinion

It’s the largest economic development project in Kansas history. All the numbers associated with the new Panasonic battery plant at DeSoto — scheduled to open early next year — are gigantic: Up to $4 billion in investment. As many as 4,000 new jobs. More than $800 million in tax credits from the state. Panasonic is expected to have a transformative effect on the region and the state. Anything less, in fact, would be a major disappointment. There’s just one problem: President-elect Donald Trump appears on track to undermine Panasonic’s work before it has even begun. Trump — as has been widely reported — is contemplating rescinding the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles. That probably would depress the American market for EVs: Sales could fall as much as 27% if the credit goes away. “You can’t make a vehicle $7,500 more expensive and sell more of them easily,” one analyst told The New York Times this week. “People are only willing to pay so much.”
Source: Wichita Eagle

When a developer proposes a project in your neighborhood, wouldn’t you like to know? | Opinion

if somebody’s proposing to build something in your neighborhood, you’d probably like to know about it. And if it’s something that will alter the character of your neighborhood or affect your property value, you’d probably want to have a voice in the city’s zoning approval process, right? Those questions are being grappled with at Wichita City Hall and the City Council was briefed on various options this week, but it really comes down to two key questions: ▪ Who should receive a letter from the city notifying them when projects are proposed near their home? ▪ Whose input should trigger discussion of projects at the City Council level. Most cities just notify the property owners within 200 feet of a development plan. Wichita starts there, but expands the notification zone out as far as 1,000 feet for larger projects, based on the acreage of the project, said Scott Wadle, director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Department. At Tuesday’s City Council workshop meeting, Johnson suggested that the mailed-notification area should be at least 500 feet. To return to our football analogy, that would be about 1 2/3 football fields. The rest of the council seemed a bit chilly toward expanding the notification zone. The reason is cost.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Kansas Gov. Kelly wants lawmakers to ‘just take a breath’ before cutting property taxes

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday called for no new tax cuts in 2025, setting the Democrat on a collision path with Republicans who have vowed to take action on property taxes after voters bolstered the party’s supermajority in the Legislature. The conflict’s outcome will influence how much Kansas homeowners pay in future property taxes, one of the most hated forms of taxation that helps pay for city and county government and public education. Some Republican lawmakers want to cut the statewide mill levy, which helps fund schools, while others favor a constitutional amendment that would limit annual property valuation increases. Whatever the specific proposal, GOP lawmakers say they must deliver homeowners some form of property tax relief. The Democratic governor wants them to hit pause. “I’ve been pretty consistent on saying we need to just take a breath and wait,” Kelly told reporters at Cedar Crest, the governor’s residence in Topeka, on Monday.
Source: Wichita Eagle

10-year Treasury yield rises after Fed minutes say to expect gradual rate cuts

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield advanced on Tuesday as investors analyzed latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes and key economic data due this week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose more than 3 basis points to 4.296%, regaining some ground after tumbling in Monday’s session. The 2-year Treasury yield was near flat at 4.254%. Yields and prices moved inversely to one another, and one basis point equals 0.01%. The Fed minutes said future interest rate cuts were likely, but to expect them to come “gradually.” The minutes were tied to the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting earlier this month, when it lowered its benchmark lending rate a quarter point to a range of 4.50% to 4.75%. The central bank started cutting the fed funds rate in September, and the next meeting of the rate-setting Open Market Committee comes on Dec. 17-18.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Prairie Village may buy a nearby church site — Will it become the new city hall?

A years-long project to remake Prairie Village’s city hall and police department may be taking a large step forward. The Prairie Village City Council on Monday is anticipated to consider taking out $5 million in bonds to pay for the Mission Road Bible Church property at 7820 Mission Road. This property, if purchased, is likely to become the location for a new city hall — a project that has been in the works for at least two years. For months now, Prairie Village has been publicly discussing the purchase of this property as it relates to the $31 million new city hall and renovated police department project. Two weeks ago, the city council during a committee of the whole meeting agreed to let staff work with its bond council on bringing forward an agenda item to pay for the church property. The city council also directed staff to move forward with a specific concept for the new city hall project at that time.
Source: Johnson County Post

Wichita City Council to vote on new police union contract. What’s in it, and what’s not?

The Wichita City Council is poised to vote on a new contract with the Fraternal Order of Police that gives officers hefty raises and eliminates one controversial provision that allowed officers to buy their way out of suspensions. But the contract won’t include many of the police accountability recommendations put forward in a $214,000 report by national police consultant group Jensen Hughes in 2023, and in at least one instance directly conflicts with a Jensen Hughes recommendation. Those proposals — including changes to officer discipline, promotion policies aimed at diversifying the department, excessive force policies and a requirement that officers immediately report misconduct to a supervisor — were removed from contract negotiations and would have to be negotiated separately to be implemented.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Mission Hills will add 3 more license plate readers along State Line Road

The Mission Hills City Council unanimously approved installing three new traffic cameras and license plate readers at three intersections along State Line Road. At its Monday, Nov. 18, the council approved the police department’s request to install cameras and plate readers at the intersections of State Line and 65th and 68th Streets, as well as at 70th Terrace. The estimated total cost for the three cameras is about $81,300, Mission Hills City Administrator Jennifer Lee said in an email after the meeting. The cameras and license plate readers are separate pieces of hardware that are installed together, Lee said.
Source: Johnson County Post

Wichita’s emergency winter shelter to open in less than 2 weeks. Here’s what to know

Update: HumanKind Ministries announced Wednesday that the emergency winter shelter will open Friday, Nov. 29. The emergency winter shelter in the former Park Elementary School will open on Dec. 2. The low-barrier shelter is part of the planned multi-agency center for homeless services at 1025 N. Main St. “Our immediate goal and objective is an emergency winter shelter, a 24/7, at least 18-week shelter through the winter months, much like we did last winter,” Assistant City Manager Troy Anderson said. “And then the goal is to ultimately transition into a full-time shelter with support services.” Humankind, a nonprofit formerly known as Interfaith Ministries, will operate the shelter this year as it has in the last 20 years. Much of the building looks the same as it did when it was a school, and some of the cubbies still have name tags from the last school year. The gymnasium and classrooms will have dozens of metal bunk beds for sleeping areas. The shelter is preparing for up to 230 beds, mostly for men, as the cold sets in. The city said at its busiest last year, the shelter saw 192 people.
Source: KLC Journal

Arkansas City police hosting toy drive

The Arkansas City Police Department is hosting a toy drive to help children in the community. The Blue Santa Toy Drive runs until Dec. 16. The department is collecting new, unopened toys to distribute to families who could use extra cheer this season. A donation box has been placed in the police department lobby at 117 W. Central Ave. The box will be monitored and emptied daily. “We’re excited to help make the holidays brighter for kids in Arkansas City. Every donation, big or small, can make a meaningful impact,” Chief Jim Holloway said. Contact the Arkansas City Police Department at 620-441-4547 with questions.
Source: KSN-TV

Galena police raise funds to bring Christmas joy to area kids

Boots were on the ground today in Galena, and in the hands of police officers. Actually, not so much boots as they were stockings. For a 2nd-straight year, members of the Galena Police Department, which included those who are part of the department’s reserve program, volunteered their time for a few hours at the intersection of 7th and Main. They were taking donations for what will benefit some less fortunate children this Christmas. This event raised a little more than $3,000 last year.
Source: KSNF/KODE

New movie has ‘Wicked’ impact on Wamego museum

The latest story from the world of the wonderful wizard is selling more than just movie tickets. “Wicked” — a cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical — debuted in theaters last weekend and made $164.2 million globally. The most recent spinoff of the classic 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” is so popular folks from around the country are flocking to Wamego’s longstanding OZ Museum. “We’ve seen about a 25% increase in visitors over the last 3 or 4 weeks,” Caiti Roush, coordinator of the museum’s gift shop said, “which is pretty significant.”
Source: KSNT 27 News

Artwork at JoCo park will pay homage to victims of brutal chapter in American history

A new art installation planned for the area near the Heritage Park marina is being hailed as the largest to commemorate the 660-mile forced removal of the Potawatomi people known as the “Potawatomi Trail of Death.” The artwork, entitled “Fire Keepers Circle” will be of painted wood, concrete and steel and evokes a blanket encircling a small gathering space. The painted background consists of a representation of the route the Potawatomi people were forced to take from Indiana to Kansas nearly two centuries ago.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post