Municipal News & Jobs

Iola’s newly established land bank is open for business. This bank is not a financial institution in a traditional sense. You can’t go in and ask for a loan, or even make a deposit. In fact, its only “assets” will be vacant lots, with the intention of filling them with new homes or businesses. The City of Iola Land Bank announced last week it is now accepting residential properties for donation. There are a few notable stipulations, said Matt Rehder, city administrator. For one, the land must be vacant with no structures, and at least 50 feet by 100 feet. The current owners must have a clear title, and must be up to date on property taxes. Secondly, the land must be donated. The city has no such thing as a “land bank” budget, Rehder noted, and thus will not be able to pay for any pieces of land. Similarly, the city would donate the property to prospective developers.
Read more: The Iola Register

The Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board has advanced new clarifications on Riley County’s short-term rental regulations, aiming to make enforcement more consistent and less subjective. The decision attempts to clarify vague wording with how county staff interpret when a 500-foot separation distance between units can be waived, so that decisions are based on clear standards and not arbitrary in nature. Short-term rental regulations have been in place since Riley County adopted its updated land-development regulations in 2022. County counselor Jacob Hansen told the planning board Monday that staff didn’t have any clear direction on when and how to interpret when a waiver should be granted.
Read more: themercury.com

Synopsis: K.S.A. 2-611 mandates that county residents elect the members of county extension councils. Because this statute concerns elections, counties may not invoke their home rule authority to exempt themselves from it.
Read more: Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2026-3

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 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 Kansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a long-running dispute over an amended planned unit development application by the Riley County Commission, which Prairiewood Holdings LLC has appealed. The dispute centers on whether a protest petition from neighboring landowners has met the legal threshold under state law. The county board initially ruled the protest petition did not apply because the project was only a PUD and not a rezoning. The Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that because the amendment increased building square footage by more than 1% county regulations required the same process as a rezoning, including allowing protest petitions.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

The organizer of a petition against an agreement between the Cowley County Sheriff’s Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said this week more than 200 people had signed the petition and that she hoped to speak with Sheriff David Falletti about the issue. “That’s all I want is a conversation that will hopefully lead to change,” Kaitlin Hicks said. “Sheriff Falletti has done a lot of really great things for our county and I have a lot of respect for him. Do I deeply, deeply disagree with the action the Sheriff’s department has made regarding this issue? Yes. Do I think it’s harmful to our county? Yes. However, I still respect him and I am thankful for his years of service.” The sheriff’s department signed an agreement with ICE in March that authorizes it to serve 48-hour detainers on behalf of ICE for people held in the Cowley County Jail, although Falletti said this week the jail had not implemented the practice because it had not yet received training to do so.
Read more: www.ctnewsonline.com

County officials say they are ready to take legal enforcement action against several property owners who have not complied with sanitation code regulations of wastewater lagoons. During the Jan. 29 County Commission meeting, Lyon County Counselor Molly Priest said that after having given notices to a number of property owners in the county, four or five had taken “little to no steps” towards compliance — mainly to do with fencing and vegetation issues — and could face Class C misdemeanor cases.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com

The Olathe City Council is set to vote on a plan to use tax pledges to repay STAR bonds for the construction of a new Kansas City Chiefs team headquarters and practice facility, estimated to cost around $300 million.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports

We could know as early as next week the exact location of a new Chiefs domed stadium in Wyandotte County. The Unified Government (UG) said a public hearing on the project will be held in the near future, but the date for that has not been set. The public hearing comes before the UG Commission must vote to approve allowing incremental sales tax growth in the stadium and surrounding district to be used to help pay off the Sales Tax and Revenue or STAR Bonds. The commission must vote by Feb. 20.
Read more: FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

The only thing missing was fateful “spaghetti western” music blaring from the sky. An impromptu snowball fight broke out on Jan. 28 between kids and members of the Newton Police Department in Military Park which resulted in heavy casualties for Newton PD. According to Chief Craig Dunlavy, the kids challenged members of the police department to the frozen water war in the afternoon and the department immediately accepted. “Who can resist a good snowball fight?” Dunlavy said. “Some of us in the office just went out, ‘let’s go have a little fun,’ we haven’t had snow in a while. We underestimated them, though.”
Read more: Harvey County Now

All through 2025, Halstead’s new industrial park speculative building sat empty. Mayor Gary Faelber wants to get someone into it by bringing in the assistance of a realtor. He told the council he was looking for a consensus to list the building with a realtor at the council’s meeting on January 28. The council discussed that possibility and agreed to meet with a realtor at a future date. City Manager Ethan Reimer confirmed that the building had been shown and that it’s available to all realtors through the LOIS (LocationOne) system, which is specific to commercial and industrial properties.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Individual retail investors (including their separately managed accounts), and their mutual fund proxies hold about 70% of outstanding municipal bonds according to MSRB data (MSRB-Muni-Facts.pdf).  ETFs, representing 4% of the market, comprise the fastest growing segment. Banks (including credit unions), held about 9% of outstanding municipal securities through Q3 2025, a 19% decline since 2022. Although insurance companies hold 9% of outstanding municipal bonds, their portfolio allocations to the asset class have been declining.
Read more: Bond Buyer

The report is called the Douglas County EV Readiness Report. It was produced by the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization and the city and county sustainability departments, and its goal is to support future planning for EV infrastructure as more electric cars get on the road.
Read more: LJWorld

A neighborhood squawk over chickens may be scratched — for now. The owner of eight hens and two roosters have rehomed the animals, but still faces a Valley Center Municipal Court hearing for potentially violating city ordinance. Meanwhile, others in the neighborhood around 63rd North and Sullivan on the south side of the city may have chickens or roosters that are disturbing the peace.
Read more: Ark Valley News

Fearing rising utility costs, job losses and privacy violations, residents have blocked or delayed data-center projects around the country.
Read more: Wall Street Journal

A Kansas native, Stiles has served in city governments in his home state for nearly 20 years, and is excited about the opportunity to take on this new challenge at the county level.
Read more: Salina Journal

Synopsis: K.S.A. 12-16,140 and 12-16,141 obligate state and local law enforcement officers to cooperate with federal immigration officials and to honor ICE detainer requests on the basis of such cooperation. State and local law enforcement officers are also authorized to arrest illegal aliens in cooperation with federal immigration officials.
Read more: Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2026-2

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 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.