Municipal News & Jobs

People in Salina may notice some unusual sights and sounds coming from the sky near the airport as the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships take place this week. The championships, hosted now for the fourth year at the Salina Regional Airport, features 85 pilots competing in the air sport of aerobatics. This is the fourth time in the past five years, with one year taken off due to COVID, that the U.S. National Aerobatic Championships has taken place at Salina Regional Airport. “There are a lot of things that factor into the right place to have it,” said Shad Coulson, the contest director this year. “Location is certainly one. We want it to be as central as possible in the U.S. which makes it as enticing for folks from across the country to come to the national event.” In addition to being centrally located, Coulson said it’s important to have the resources available to the competitors and the support staff and volunteers at the airport. “The airport here is amazing, with good facilities (and) good hangar space to keep all these beautiful, valuable airplanes protected from the elements,” Coulson said.
Source: Salina Journal

Here, in this overlooked brick building now serving as a post office, was a general store that was a center of trade for the sleepy town of Tecumseh, Carter Vincent points out. Right next door, an old barn structure is all that remains of the original medical practice, whose physician has long since passed but whose legacy is best seen in the hundreds of babies he helped deliver through the turn of the 19th century. Less than a block away are the sites of several firsts for Shawnee County — a first courthouse, a first church — that served as the foundation for the area’s eventual future as the seat of Kansas’ state government. These pieces of history could be easily missed when walking by, much more so when driving. But it’s history that Vincent, a freshman at Shawnee Heights High School, is keen to preserve through his Eagle Scout project. … ‘During COVID, my family and I traveled around the state, and we learned about the history in these little towns,’ Vincent said. ‘I combined my love of history and my love of walking, which I grew during COVID, to feature historic Tecumseh.’
Source: CJonline

Tensions flared as state and local politicians clashed over property taxes, setting the stage for what is likely to be a heated tax dispute next legislative session. The area of agreement is a mutual desire to cut property taxes. The dispute is over whether the state should put money into a fund intended to help pay for local property tax cuts, or if the state should cut its own property taxes. A movement has been growing to fund the local ad valorem tax reduction fund, or LAVTR, for the first time in 20 years. The LAVTR remains part of state law, but the Legislature regularly opts to strip its funding, as is the case for the current fiscal year. Without further legislative action, the state would transfer $27 million into the LATVR next fiscal year.
Source: CJonline

Kansas will add 54,000 jobs that require some level of college education this decade, but the state is poised to fall well short of that demand, one of the state’s top labor economists told the Kansas Board of Regents. To meet the demand, Kansas would need to produce an additional 34,000 degrees by 2030 — a tall order as Kansas continues to see many of its young college graduates move out-of-state for higher paying jobs. … “Given the increase in technology, artificial intelligence and robots, most jobs are going to require some credential,” the distinguished economics professor told the Regents. “The days of jobs for high school graduates only are going away.”
Source: CJonline

Topeka is full of historical treasures dating back to the founding of the state, but many of the city’s most iconic buildings have faced uncertain futures. Advanced decay and disrepair, a lack of funding and the absence of interested buyers are roadblocks to preservation efforts. Private citizens purchased and funded the rehabilitation of properties with significant historical ties to Kansas, including the Charles Curtis House, the Thacher Building and the Jayhawk Theatre.
Source: CJonline

Next Wednesday, county treasurers and their staff from across Southwest Kansas will converge in Liberal for a conference. The Southwest Kansas County Treasurers Association will host its annual conference at the Activity Center, and Seward County Treasurer Mary Rose said the association is made up of offices from 17 counties. “The Kansas County Treasurers Association is all 105 counties, and they’ve divided it up into districts,” she said. “Southwest Kansas is one. They go down the list starting in alphabetical order of who gets to host the county treasurers event for Southwest Kansas. This year, we were asked to host it, and we accepted.” This is the first time Seward County has hosted the conference in 20 years, and Rose said the event is a chance for area treasurers to meet and talk about issues pertaining particularly to Southwest Kansas.
Source: Liberal First

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. 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.

Topeka USD 501 will offer each employee a $3,000 “incentive” this fall, and the district will drop its controversial condition that staff maintain near-perfect attendance to receive the bonus payment. The incentive is meant to help recruit new teachers and support staff, Topeka USD 501 officials said. Part-time workers will receive pro-rated payments. The payments, which will be made in two installments of $1,500 in October and December for full-time, active staff members, will use $8 million of the district’s $42.2 million in the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief funding.
Source: CJonline

Topeka USD 501 isn’t getting a big chunk of the fees it asks parents to pay to help fund school materials and activities, and the district is looking to clamp down on collecting that money. In a financial overview of the district to the Topeka Board of Education on Thursday, director of fiscal services Gary Menke shared that the district has been having trouble getting parents to pay for those school fees in recent years. While state law generally bars schools charging tuition, it does allow districts to collect fees for such items as textbooks, workbooks, musical instruments, technology and other school materials used by students.
Source: CJonline

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. 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.

K.S.A. 79-2988(b)(2)’s use of “shall” is mandatory. As a result, a governing body of a taxing subdivision may not levy a tax rate in excess of the revenue neutral rate where the county clerk fails to timely send out the required notice to the taxpayers pursuant to K.S.A. 79-2988(b)(2).
Source: KS AG Opinion No. 2023-08

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. 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.