Kansas Municipal News
Assistant city manager for Dallas chosen to be Topeka’s next city manage
Robert Perez, assistant city manager for Dallas, has been picked to be Topeka’s next city manager…. “The governing body invested considerable time and effort into their selection process, and we’re excitedthat Dr. Perez has been selected,” Mayor Michael Padilla said in the release. “I have full confidence in his ability to lead the city of Topeka and guide us toward our strategic goals.”
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for May 9, 2024
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.
Sedgwick County rejects RHID incentives for apartment project in Goddard
The Sedgwick County Commission has vetoed Goddard’s plan to give a developer $3.5 million in state incentives to build apartments at the Genesis Sports Complex. Commissioners voted 5-0 against the incentive package, which would have diverted property taxes from that land to pay for up to $3.5 million in eligible costs for a 108-unit apartment complex. County staff recommended nullifying Goddard’s agreement …
Source: Wichita Eagle
Retired fire chief continues to serve Halstead
He spent his entire career selflessly helping others during their greatest times of need. Now, retired fire chief Jim VanSchaik has taken on a different form of community service: that of city council member. VanSchaik took the oath of office on April 22 to fulfill the final 20 months of Brody Flavin’s term. Flavin resigned from the council on April 11.
Source: Harvey County Now
Prairie Village considering rule that would effectively ban AirBnbs in city
Prairie Village is considering imposing a 30-day minimum stay rule on short-term rental properties, a rule that, if adopted, would effectively bar AirBnbs and Vrbos in the city. On Monday, the Prairie Village City Council became the latest Johnson County municipal government to take up the short-term rental issue and discuss imposing new restrictions on the properties.
Source: Johnson County Post
Lawrence ordinance meant to help people with vouchers find housing survives legal challenge
A Douglas County judge has ruled against a group of landlords who sued the City of Lawrence over an ordinance that bans discrimination against some prospective tenants. The Lawrence City Commission in February 2023 approved an ordinance change that creates a protected class based on renters’ source of income… Local housing advocates have said that the protections could significantly help lessen Lawrence’s housing and homelessness crises, because many families who qualify for housing vouchers are unable to find landlords who will accept them. The full memorandum decision is here.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Westmoreland cutting utility bills for residents following tornado
Westmoreland residents got some relief this week when the city government announced it was reducing utility bills. “In effort to hopefully give some relief, the city has cut this month’s utility bills in half!” officials wrote in a post on social media. The announcement came Tuesday in the wake of an EF-3 tornado that hit the city last week.
Source: themercury.com
Kansas plan to get Chiefs, Royals relies on billions in bonds with ‘high degree of risk’
Some Kansas lawmakers want to use STAR bonds to finance new stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. After Jackson County voters rejected a county sales tax for the teams in April, a Kansas proposal would authorize STAR bonds with 30-year terms to pay up to 100% of the cost of building a new stadium across the state line. Fully financing a Chiefs stadium could mean issuing $2-3 billion in STAR bonds, and potentially $1.5 billion to $2 billion for the Royals. Never before have STAR bonds of that size been issued. As of 2020, $1.1 billion total in STAR bonds had been issued in total, according to a state audit. The Chiefs-Royals proposal could triple that.
Source: Kansas City Star
Upper Floor Housing Grants Available for Designated Main Street Communities
Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced $400,000 is available under the Residential Opportunities on Main Street (ROOMS) grant program to support new upper-floor housing in commercial buildings in Designated Kansas Main Street communities. … Upper-floor investments create new housing opportunities and can play an important role in addressing the shortage of quality housing, which regularly is identified as a major issue throughout Kansas.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Governor Laura Kelly will call a special session to pass more modest tax relief in Kansas
Kelly says she will veto the bipartisan tax bill lawmakers passed in the last hours of the 2024 legislative session. A special session to pass tax relief less impactful on future state budgets will be called, but a timeline is not yet confirmed.
Source: KCUR
Feds indict Russian man tied to Wichita cyberattack
The director of a Russian ransomware group named in a federal indictment this week is likely responsible for a cybersecurity attack on the city of Wichita. The U.S Department of Justice charged Dimitry Khoroshev and his company, LockBit, in a 26-count indictment on Tuesday. The counts include numerous charges of extortion and fraud.
Source: KCUR News
Johnson County cities crack down on Airbnb
Prairie Village is considering a 30-day minimum stay rule for short-term rentals, which would essentially ban most Airbnb and Vrbo properties. It’s the latest city in Johnson County to take up the issue. Fairway, Shawnee, and Merriam have all considered the issue in recent months, especially as local governments look towards the potential influx of visitors to the Kansas City metro for the 2026 World Cup. Up To Date’s Steve Kraske discussed short-term rentals with reporter Juliana Garcia, who has been covering the story for the Johnson County Post.
Source: KCUR News
Voters in Valley Center, Haysville approve ballot questions
Voters in Valley Center and Haysville have approved ballot questions on a school bond issue and a sales tax. In unofficial results from a special election on Tuesday, Valley Center voters approved a $59 million school bond issue that will provide for a new elementary school and improvements to Valley Center High School and the Valley Center Intermediate School. The improvements are planned to address higher enrollment in the district. The bond issue received 1,173 yes votes and 1,031 no votes in the special election. Valley Center Superintendent Greg Lehr issued a statement on social media, saying “Members of the communities we serve have determined that now is the time to provide adequate space for learning for current and future students. Once the ballots have been canvassed and the results finalized, we will move forward with the planning and implementation phases, ensuring fiscal responsibility and transparency throughout the process.” In Haysville, voters approved the extension of a one cent sales tax that was about to expire. The tax will be used to improve local streets, parks and recreational facilities. The city also plans to use 10 percent of the tax revenue for property tax reduction. The extension received 557 yes votes and 387 no votes. The results are unofficial until they are certified by the Sedgwick County Election Office.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
What Wichita services have been affected by cyberattack outage
Almost every single department in the city of Wichita has been impacted by the cyberattack that happened Sunday night. “Every department within the city of Wichita is just trying its best right now to go about day to day operations,” said Wichita Mayor Lily Wu. The Wichita fire fighter’s union says the system that alerts fire fighters when there’s a call in their area is down so now the department is having to monitor their radios 24/7 to make sure they don’t miss a call. “We’re on for 24 hours so having to monitor the radios when normally you’d be sleeping is a hardship,” said the Union’s vice president Dustin Winter. He says usually firefighters can sleep throughout the night because if something happens all the lights will turn on and an alarm will sound but that’s not happening right now. The Fraternal Order of Police says the Wichita Police Department is also having to change things up a bit to work through changes the outage caused. “The Fraternal Order of Police is aware of the cybersecurity incident and have been working closely with Chief Sullivan and his command staff to ensure that our officers have the necessary resources to maintain exceptional service standards. While the incident has caused some more traditional methods to get the mission accomplished, rest assured that the dedicated men and women of the Wichita Police Department are diligently working to uphold our commitment to exceptional customer service and public safety,” said the FOP’s president in a statement to KAKE News. (…) First responders aren’t the only ones being impacted.
Source: KAKE – News
Sedgwick County proposal would block incentives for Genesis Sports Complex apartments
The Sedgwick County Commission will consider vetoing Goddard’s plan to give a developer $3.5 million in state incentives to build apartments at the Genesis Sports Complex, documents show. The commission’s May 8 agenda was published Friday afternoon, several hours after a Wichita Eagle report found $1.2 million of the incentive package would be used to fund a land transfer from an LLC owned by Rodney Steven II and Brandon Steven to an affiliated LLC with unknown ownership and unclear ties to Rodney Steven II. The land would be the site for 100 garden-style apartments near baseball and softball diamonds at the Genesis Sports Complex south of Kellogg in Goddard. It would be the second time Goddard has used state incentives to buy the 7.57 acre site for a developer. Three commissioners, the number needed to reject the incentives, have signaled their opposition to the Goddard’s plan: Republicans Jim Howell and David Dennis, whose district includes Goddard, and Democrat Sarah Lopez. Republicans Ryan Baty and Pete Meitzner said they were still researching the project Friday afternoon. “My job is to protect all taxpayers in the county, not just special interests of a few,” Lopez said in a statement. “Goddard could benefit from those housing units, but not on the backs of everyone else.”
Source: Wichita Eagle
The city of Burden cleans up after serious wind damage
Burden, Kansas is in clean up mode on Tuesday following high winds that caused thousands of dollars worth of damage and debris. In fact, some of the damage was so severe that a local high school took it upon themselves to send out some of their students to help the community. “The wind, I’ve never heard wind like that in my life,” said Rey Kehr, Burden resident. Kehr is dealing with the aftermath of Monday’s severe weather. His lawn is now littered with tree limbs. County officials estimate winds reached 80 miles per hour during the storm; and the damage is clear throughout town. Driving down Main Street you see an abandoned building now mostly bricks. That isn’t the worst of it. The most damage in Burden took place at storage facilities at Cowley County’s public works district three building. At least two structures were almost totally destroyed by wind. “Sadly the building behind me was one of the originals for this. It dates back to the 30s and 40s,” said County Administrator Lucas Goff. The damage at the public works property could be upwards of $750,000 to fix. This serves as a reminder that tornadoes aren’t the only kind of severe weather you should be watching out for. In fact, high winds can often be just as damaging. It’s not all bad news though. The community came together in a big way. High school students from USD 426 decided to volunteer their time and load up 5 trailers full of branches and debris from yards in need.
Source: KAKE – News
Ellsworth delays opening of splash pads
The City of Ellsworth is delaying the opening of its splash pads. Ellsworth is currently under a voluntary water watch due to drought conditions. The voluntary watch has been in place since last year. The city is postponing opening the splash pads until at least May 13 so they can have a discussion with the city council about current drought conditions. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows Ellsworth County and much of the state is in a severe drought. However, that is based on data as of April 30 and doesn’t include recent rainfall.
Source: KSN-TV
Caldwell celebrates its Chisholm Trail history
The town of Caldwell celebrated its legendary history over the weekend with the Caldwell Chisholm Trail Festival. The town proudly calls itself the Border Queen as it is so close to the Oklahoma state line. It also is where the Chisholm Trail entered Kansas. In the late 1800s, cowboys drove two million cattle along the trail from Texas to railroad towns in Kansas. The festival this weekend included a cattle drive. One participant said he is grateful to be able to reenact history. “We always want to try to remember where we came from and what got us to where we are today, so the cattle drives bringing the cattle to the railhead in Kansas,” Sam Wylie said, who brought cattle. Now in its 30th year, the festival included music, a pet parade, gunfights, and dance hall girls. Tourists are invited to explore Caldwell year-round. Visit the Trails, Rails, and Scales Visitor Center, go on the downtown historical sign walking tour, or visit the Border Queen Museum.
Source: KSN-TV
Photo album-inspired arch in Garden City reflects an artist’s gratitude and community’s history
In Garden City — the rural heart of the high plains — stands “El Arco,” a 14-foot-tall sculpture erected in 2023. You can find the artwork on 8th Street, in Garden City’s historic downtown, across from Central Cup Coffee House. Clad in a yellow-orange ombre of ceramic tiles printed with a “photo album” of the city that helped mold the artist — Armando Minjárez Monárrez — the sculpture both reflects the life of the artist and our own lives and times. It suggests both the opportunities and restrictions of 2020s rural America, and most of all a very American tale of cobbling together our futures with the support and guidance of our communities. Since his days studying art at Garden City Community College in 2005, western Kansas has held a soft spot in Minjárez’s heart. In early 2021, he heard from longtime mentor Carole Geier about a Garden City Arts grant cycle with a nearing deadline. Ideas of what forges community quickly generated a proposal submission. He has known Geier since he lived in Garden City, he said. “She is someone who has made an effort to stay in touch with me — I wouldn’t have been able to participate in (this grant) it wasn’t for her,” he said. “I’m grateful for her.” Minjárez’s submission was selected, and the execution of the project started. This pandemic project took longer than expected. Garden City Art’s director, Caty Guthrie, said they faced “supply chain issues,” with the ceramic arch originally meant to be constructed from steel.
Source: Kansas Reflector
KCK voters soundly reject district’s $420 million plan to improve, build new schools
Voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a request to issue $420 million in bonds for capital projects in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, sending district officials back to the drawing board on a plan to address the challenges of dated school buildings. Roughly 8% of registered voters participated in the single-issue special election over the fate of the district’s proposal, according to unofficial results from the Wyandotte County Election Office. The measure received support from 42% of voters as 58% cast ballots against. There were 5,071 ballots cast, with 2,136 supporters and 2,935 opponents. The plan before voters called for three elementary and two middle schools to be built. Some additional costs included a $15 million district aquatic center, a $20 million expansion of early childhood capacity, up to $20 million for a new main public library and $44.5 million to cover deferred maintenance. District officials had pointed to the plan as one to address many needs, including aging school buildings and a lack of sufficient space.
Source: KC Star Local News