Municipal News & Jobs

As plans for a new Chiefs domed stadium, headquarters, and practice facility move forward, some key local voices may be involved in running those facilities. Tuesday night, the Kansas House of Representatives approved a bill to create the Kansas Sports Authority to operate those facilities. The Chiefs plan to build their stadium and entertainment complex in Kansas City, Kansas and their headquarters and practice facility in Olathe. An amendment approved as part of the bill would include the mayors of both KCK and Olathe as voting members on the 11-member sports authority board. “We are glad the legislature is being considerate of our local community. We appreciate the representation,” said Unified Government Mayor/CEO Christal Watson in a statement Wednesday.
“I think it’s only appropriate that the mayors, the leaders of the community have a say,” said Tom Burroughs, a former Kansas state lawmaker and Wyandotte County Commissioner who’s been involved in the Chiefs move to Kansas.
Read more: KMBC

A Kansas County has temporarily halted commercial projects that have become a hot-button issue for many communities. On Tuesday, the Saline County Commission voted 4-0 to place a moratorium on the construction of data center, nuclear power and hydrogen-based energy facilities in unincorporated areas of the county. The moratorium is set to last for three years, but commissioners have the option to shorten or lengthen it. The goal is to give county planning staff time to come up with regulations for the facilities in question. Some commissioners said they also wanted to delay action on any facilities until after the next election so candidates can make it a campaign issue and voters can decide.
Read more: KSN-TV

The bill that creates the entity that would own the Kansas City Chiefs stadium in the Sunflower State passed out of the State House Tuesday night. Lawmakers added the Mayors of Olathe and KCK as likely voting members to the board. This is what KCK Mayor Christal Watson, along with Unified Government of Wyandotte County Administrator David Johnston, wanted. Both went to Topeka on Tuesday, March 10, to talk about this. The House Commerce Committee rejected Wyandotte County’s ask Thursday, March 12, but the full House ended up adding Wyandotte County’s CEO on Tuesday, March 17th. “We have value,” Watson said on Wednesday after the vote in the house. “They saw that we have value, and that’s what’s most important.”
Read more: KSN-TV

Marion County commissioners approved a resolution Monday banning commercial wind energy conversion systems in multiple townships in the county’s unincorporated areas. Commissioner Mike Beneke cast the lone dissenting vote. The resolution prohibits commercial and utility-scale wind projects, including turbines, substations, and related infrastructure, in 15 identified townships. The ban applies to new applications and construction but does not restrict small-scale wind systems for personal use.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

Goessel residents warned not to let infants and pregnant women drink nitrate-laced tap water is waiting a repeat test before its water supply is cleared. A test last week indicated nitrate levels 10% above a federal standard, resulting in a warning not to give tap water to infants younger than 6 months or pregnant women or to use it to make infant formula. The sample measured nitrate at 11 milligrams per liter, according to the notice the city distributed. The notice said the city expected to notify residents within 30 days of retesting.
Read more: Marion County RECORD

The Lenexa Police Department reported its animal control officers are seeing more raccoons in the area exhibiting signs of canine distemper. The viral disease typically affects animals like raccoons, foxes and skunks, and it could cause them to come across as disoriented, lethargic or abnormally tame, per a social media post from Lenexa police. LPD said residents should never feed wildlife as it increases contact between animals and can contribute to the disease spreading. If you find a raccoon that looks sick or is acting unusual, contact the dispatch center at 913-477-7301. Residents are also encouraged to check their pets vaccination records and make sure those are current.
Read more: KSHB

Property taxes in Johnson County have been a major topic of concern for many residents, especially retirees worried about being priced out of their homes. But the assessed value is only half of the story. The other half is the mill levy, the rate at which your property is taxed. Jane Zaccardi, a retired Johnson County resident, said the increases have been difficult to manage. “Being a retired person and essentially [on] a fixed income, that kind of jump is not sustainable,” Zaccardi said.
Read more: KSHB

Mayor Christal Watson launched her first “Christal Clear Conversations” town hall Tuesday afternoon, kicking off a community engagement series aimed at increasing transparency and collaborative problem solving between the Unified Government and Wyandotte County residents. The event was held from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the KCK Town House Tenant Association, located at 1021 N. Seventh St. in Kansas City, Kansas. Most attendees were residents with questions and issues about senior services, transportation and safety. Watson and her staff shared resources and took questions, and several residents offered their own solutions.
Read more: KSHB

A water test on March 4 showed nitrate levels in Rural Water District 101, which serves the Yoder area, of 13 milligrams per liter (mg/L), which is above the state and federal level for maximum contaminant level, Reno County announced on Monday, March 16, in a news release. The state and federal maximum is set at 10 mg/L, Reno County Public Works Director Don Brittain wrote in the release. He wrote that nitrates in water come from a combination of natural, industrial, and agricultural sources.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

Allen County commissioners are considering a new sales tax proposal to fund emergency medical services after last year’s effort failed. Allen County commissioners are weighing a second attempt at asking voters to approve a sales tax dedicated to emergency medical services. At Tuesday morning’s commission meeting, discussion focused on how to better inform the public after a previous proposal in November 2024 fell short. Commission Chair David Lee described the concept as a targeted funding source for ambulance services, asking fellow commissioners whether they want to move forward with a measure. “It would go to support the ambulance services — nothing else,” Lee noted. Commissioners made no mention of potentially lowering property taxes, which in 2024 was part of their campaign to enact a higher sales tax dedicated to EMS. While no formal decision was made, commissioners agreed that if the proposal returns — potentially on the November ballot — public education will play a larger role than it did previously.
Read more: The Iola Register

Iola and Allen County are launching new initiatives to boost economic development, tackle workforce shortages, and attract high-wage jobs to the region. Camille Lavon spent her first six months as economic development director for Iola and Allen County doing a lot of listening and learning. Her goal: to become as intimately familiar as possible with what the local business climate had to offer, and what needed help. Some of the challenges were hardly a mystery, reflective of southeast Kansas as a whole: businesses are struggling in an area with aging infrastructure,  affordable housing shortages and declining population. Mostly, companies have found it difficult to find quality employees. Tack in news that Gates Corporation was closing a production line, and cutting more than 80 jobs in the process, and it’s safe to say Lavon’s getting-to-know-you stage was a whirlwind.
Read more: The Iola Register

A long-awaited upgrade to Humboldt’s animal shelter is complete, replacing a decades-old facility with a modern space designed to better care for animals and serve the community. Construction on the new building at 700 S. First St. began in January and was led by Hanson Contracting of Humboldt, whose crew handled the bulk of the work on a tight timeline. For Animal Control Officer Sheri Modlin, the new shelter is a major improvement over what the community has relied on for years. The previous structure, she explained, consisted of just four outdoor kennels and dated back to around 1970. “We’ve always had a small shelter,” she said.  Over time, maintaining it became an ongoing challenge as inspections repeatedly revealed issues that needed to be addressed. Rather than continuing to patch an outdated facility, an unexpected opportunity made a full replacement possible. Funding for the project came from a donation left by the late David Bain and his sister, the late Kay Frances (Bain) Davis, both Humboldt natives.
Read more: The Iola Register

The Kansas House and Senate went tit-for-tat last week, rebuffing each other’s property tax relief proposals, which have been billed this legislative session as making good on old promises to alleviate Kansans’ residential property tax burdens. When the House voted down a Senate resolution that would have allowed voters to decide on an annual cap on assessed value increases for commercial and residential property, the Senate skipped over scheduled discussion on a House bill seeking to create funding limits for local taxing entities. The two proposals have been in the works for months, if not years, and they were comprehensive enough to promise property tax relief for a wide swath of Kansans. Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican who is running this year for the GOP nomination for governor, urged the House to “put taxpayers first.”
Read more: The Lawrence Times

Wamego will soon be home to the world’s largest Toto. The Wamego Chamber of Commerce was awarded an attraction and development grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce and Tourism to construct a 15-foot tall Toto statue modeled after illustrations from the original “The Wizard of OZ” book by L. Frank Baum. This allows the community to avoid any potential legal battles with MGM, which produced the classic 1939 film. “Toto is a character that we can use and don’t have to worry about copyright issues, which that goes dating back to the original Toto statues,” said Corey Reeves, the chamber’s tourism and event manager. Kansas Department of Commerce director of tourism Bridgette Jobe said one thing Kansas historically does really well is “world’s largest” items, with 12 attractions already statewide.
Read more: themercury.com

The Topeka Tenants group has formally endorsed a rental registry for the city. A rental registry would require landlords to register their properties with the local municipality. The Shawnee County Landlords Association has expressed opposition to the proposed registry. Topeka Tenants have formerly endorsed giving a rental list on the books. During the Public Health and Safety Committee meeting on March 11, Jonathan Smith, a Topeka Tenant member, read the endorsement for the committee. “Topeka Tenants, formerly endorses a landlord registry and tenant protection proposals that would include many benefits for both tenants and landlords, thus creating social safety nets for vulnerable populations on both sides,” Smith said. “Ultimately, we believe a landlord registry will result in a safer and more inviting city.”
Read more: Topeka Capital

Casey’s convenience stores are being planned in Maize and Kechi, a return to Maize and a first for Kechi for the chain. A March building permit filed with the Metropolitan Area Building and Construction Department, valued at $585,000, shows a Casey’s store planned for 5345 N. Maize Road, at the intersection of 53rd Street North and Maize Road. The building at the address was a former Pizza Hut, according to an online listing. The site is near entrance and exit ramps to K-96. Casey’s formerly had a store in Maize at 4605 Maize Road that had operated for roughly 30 years before it closed in October 2016, the Wichita Eagle reported.
Read more: Wichita Business Journal

For the past several years, more than one third of teams playing in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 Men’s Basketball Championship have had to stay in hotels outside of Reno County for the tournament in Hutchinson, as there weren’t enough appropriate blocs of hotel rooms. LeAnn Cox, vice president of operations and tourism with Visit Hutch, said the contract with the NJCAA requires 10 rooms each with two beds per team. Since the closure of the Atrium Hotel in 2019, nine teams have had to stay in McPherson, Maize, or elsewhere, she said. But since the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn last fall, the number of teams staying outside of Hutchinson will be reduced to three when the tournament tips off Saturday.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

The nitrate level in Dodge City’s water has dropped below the federal standard and is safe to drink, the city announced on Wednesday. The city said secondary testing showed the nitrate level within the water system was at 6.42 milligrams per liter. The testing was conducted at a lab that holds National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program certification, which is recognized by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Read more: KSN-TV

In his press conference Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said monetary policy is “appropriate.” The Federal Open Market Committee held interest rates in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%, with one 25 basis point rate cut expected this year and one next year, as the Middle East conflict lingers.
Read more: Bond Buyer and CNBC

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.