Municipal News & Jobs

The Topeka City Council discussed recommendations regarding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund that could help create 229 affordable housing units across the city Tuesday night. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee received six applications. Of those, three projects were recommended to receive funding. The three projects include:
SENT, Inc.
Wible Property Development LLC
Highland Park REO LLC
“We have three projects that we are recommending funding, just under a million dollars, that will roughly create around 229 additional affordable housing units in our community,” Carrie Higgins, Housing Services Division director.
Read more: KSNT 27 News

Beginning Thursday, June 25, the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program (SEK-CAP) is to start accepting applications for the Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program. The TBRA program, funded through the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, provides rental subsidies, security deposits, and utility deposits to eligible people and families, who may receive up to two years of assistance in Allen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Elk, Labette, Linn, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson Counties.
Read more: Morning Sun

Hutchinson City Council Member Steve Garza said he changed his mind on data center development in the city and discussed the council considering a 10-year moratorium on data center development Tuesday evening, during the council comments portion of the meeting. After attending a special Reno County Commission meeting Monday evening, Garza said he learned new information and what residents thought concerning data center and battery energy storage system (BESS) development. He added that he considered proposing an election to decide the fate of data center development, as well as outright banning it. However, banning development could lead to potential legal issues for the council.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Opponents of data centers and battery energy storage systems (BESS) will have a town hall meeting Monday evening, June 22, just outside Haven. The meeting, organized by the “No BESS or Data Centers in Reno County” group on Facebook, is scheduled for 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church’s Lighthouse building, 8513 E. Arlington Road. A flyer for the meeting says information about hazards of those industries will be presented, along with how people can be involved in opposing them in the county.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Panasonic’s Kansas electric vehicle battery plant will convert part of its operations to build batteries for data centers, company officials announced. Panasonic leaders announced the company’s shift to focus on developing devices and infrastructure equipment for artificial intelligence uses and data centers at a June 8 investors day presentation.  Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic Holdings, said the company will invest about $3 billion between fiscal years 2027 and 2029 to advance its work on devices and systems that support AI, including enhancing production capacity.  Panasonic opened its 4.7 million-square foot plant in De Soto in July, but ramping to full capacity was delayed by Trump administration changes in support for green energy and electric vehicles.  The project received nearly $830 million in tax credits from the state of Kansas.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

At the risk of sounding cliché, Majed Al-Ghafry wants Lawrence to know that he is a public servant through and through. The “smile of the entire community” keeps his fire lit. The Lawrence City Commission selected Al-Ghafry as the new city manager Tuesday, and he flew to town this weekend to meet with his new team and house hunt. He’s enjoyed patronizing local restaurants, like Aladdin Cafe and Merchants, and he’s already delighted in Sylas and Maddy’s ice cream — twice. Al-Ghafry said the city manager job in Lawrence is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He wants to bring his values of ethics and compassion to the role, and to address the trust gap between the city and its residents with transparency and no side deals. Being a city manager, he said, is a privilege, not a right.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Topeka will soon take legal action against AT&T. On June 16, the Topeka City Council unanimously approved initiating litigation. The council didn’t discuss the litigation as the line item was within the consent agenda. City communications director Daniel Garrett said the city is suing due to a breach of contract. “Under the franchise utility agreement with AT&T, they are required to relocate infrastructure within 180 days, if notified of a conflict with public infrastructure,” Garrett said in a statement. “AT&T failed to relocate certain infrastructure within the contracted time. The delay caused additional costs on a City construction project on SW Fairlawn, and the City is seeking compensation for those costs.”
Read more: Topeka Capital-Journal

Rural Kansans could see longer drives to access healthcare or fewer health services because of hospital closures. A report found that Kansas has 28 rural hospitals at immediate risk of closure. More rural Kansas hospitals are at risk of immediate closure than in any other state. That’s according to a recent report by the non-profit policy organization Centers for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. It found that out of the about 100 rural Kansas hospitals analyzed, 69 are at risk of closure and 28 are at immediate risk.
Read more: The Lawrence Times

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 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.

A single data center would pay millions in local taxes and fees each year.
Read more: LJWorld

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.

Ten to 15 buildings and a facility that uses an amount of electricity equal to a third of the capacity of Jeffrey Energy Center. Those are some of the specifications of a proposed data center in Pottawatomie County that members of the county’s planning commission have heard so far. Beltline Energy, the Atlanta-based developer brokering the deal, has said that it wants to build a large-scale data center near Jeffrey Energy Center, a power plant north of St. Marys that’s owned by Evergy, and sell to another company. Beltline reps have held meetings to lay out some of their plans, but they have not submitted an application to the government, in part because the land they’re considering using is zoned for agricultural use and couldn’t be used for a data center without a change in the regulations. The county is currently working on draft regulations for such facilities.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

City commissioners debated proposed revisions to Manhattan’s workforce housing sales tax policy Tuesday night. Commissioners pushed back against removing certain requirements and references to workforce housing, which was meant to give the commission more discretion on a case-by-case basis. “The whole rationale for having a policy is to have a set of standards … that our developers can be looking at,” Mayor Susan Adamchak said. The discussion focused heavily on how to define affordability targets, how strictly to cap income eligibility and whether the program should prioritize ownership, rental development or a mix of both.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

Starting next year, the outdoor country music and camping event Country Stampede Kansas will be held at the newly opened Gilley’s Gambling Hall in Park City, Kansas. Kustom Entertainment Inc., a live entertainment and music festival company, announced a multi-year partnership agreement with Gilley’s to produce and host music festivals throughout spring, summer, and fall seasons beginning in 2027.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

Newton could soon have a common consumption district in the downtown. The Newton City Commission heard a recommendation from its Main Street Board to designate an area that roughly follows the Downtown Business District as an area where alcohol can be consumed in public. “The number one business people have wanted to see in our community was a brewery,” Choose Newton/Main Street Kansas Coordinator Jen Lehman said. “Something like this can be seen as an incentive, if we already have something like this in place.” The City of Newton already has common consumption outlined in its city code. However, the city has never designated an actual district. The proposed district varies slightly from the downtown business district, as it adds Military Park and removes areas like schools and the county jail.
Read more: Harvey County Now

Newton resident Meagan Waltner used to wait until her two children ate to eat. If there were leftovers, she ate something. If not, she didn’t. That was around 2009, when she raised two kids as a single mom. What’s going on with the economy now reminds her of what it was like then. Now, her children are grown, and one lives at home. She’s having trouble making ends meet. “I’m working right now,” she said. “I’m not getting as many clients as I need, so things are really tight.” She’s a therapist at a group practice and is self-employed. Sometimes, she goes to bed hungry. “I hope to get back to where I need to be,” she said about her economic status. “I have a feeling a lot of people are experiencing that.” They are. Bills are going up, but paychecks are not.
That’s one of the reasons Salvation Army of Harvey County Case Manager Tisha Green attributes to more people getting food from their Harvest of Love Food Pantry.
Read more: Harvey County Now

A federal plan to reduce flood risk of Turkey Creek in downtown Merriam may require up to a decade of additional planning and construction, as well as the removal of 17 buildings. After four years of design work and $6.5 million, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revealed 65% of its plans for flood mitigation in downtown Merriam — namely, 740 feet of levee, more than 6,000 feet of floodwall and the replacement of both the Merriam and Johnson Drive bridges. The city of Merriam has yet to sign onto the Corps’ plan, and is simultaneously mulling a flood mitigation plan from a separate, private entity. That private engineering firm’s plan calls for demolishing all of historic downtown between the Johnson Drive and Merriam Drive bridges. Alongside the flood mitigation efforts in downtown Merriam, the city is also in the middle of a downtown master plan to guide future redevelopment in the area.
Read more: Johnson County Post