Kansas Municipal News
New Pott Co. commissioner is confident in new, expanded board
Pottawatomie County Commission Chair Terry Force tried Monday to alleviate any concerns or anxiety about the new board. After thanking every one for attending, he said, “This is a learning time for us all. It’s an anxious time for some group leaders and employees (wondering what) four brand new commissioners are going to do to us. Rest assured. This group here has a diverse background. A lot to offer. “Collectively this will be an extremely good and effective board,” he continued “I don’t know of anyone with an agenda. We just want Pottawatomie County to be the best place to live for tomorrow and years to come. We’re not here for heads to roll, just to make sure this county is run properly following the policies in place. If the policies don’t fit, we will look at them and adjust as necessary.”
Source: themercury.com
Municipal Bond Trends for January 27, 2025
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.
Leawood pet owners with only 2 fur babies no longer have to license them
…councilmembers weighed the costs of administering the annual license tags and the burden to residents and decided that the revenue from the tags and late fees fell short of supporting the cost of running the program.
Source: Johnson County Post
Topeka officials want Manhattan, Lawrence to join its metro area
Topeka officials on Friday pitched an idea to Manhattan area leaders: Why not join forces make one big metropolitan area?… The benefit is showing a higher population to be able to compete for businesses and economic development projects or programs that might have a higher population cutoff than any of those cities has on its own.
Source: themercury.com
Kansas tuberculosis outbreak is now America’s largest in recorded history
As of Jan. 17, public health officials reported that they had documented 66 active cases and 79 latent infections in the Kansas City, Kansas, metro area since 2024. Most of the cases have been in Wyandotte County, with a handful in Johnson County.
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for January 24, 2025
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.
Treasury yields drop as investors look for safety after AI sell-off in stocks
U.S. Treasury yields fell on Monday as investors sought out safe-haven assets amid a massive stock market sell-off. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped seven basis points to 4.557%, while the 2-year Treasury yield was last trading at 4.225% after falling close to five basis points. One basis point equals 0.01% and yields move inversely to prices. Stocks tumbled on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite being hit hard by a large decline in the technology sector. Last week, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released an open source AI model that reportedly outperformed OpenAI’s in several tests. The company said it launched the large-language model in December for less than $6 million, causing investors to question the billions of dollars they have spent to build and train AI models.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Johnson County park district will end bike rental program
The “cruiser” style bicycles that were for rent at three Johnson County parks will be going away this year, as the park district board mulls how to replace a service that consistently lost money. The governing board voted to cancel the contract with BikeWalkKC for the program that allowed visitors to rent bikes by the minute at Shawnee Mission, Heritage and Meadowbrook parks. Park staff will bring back options for other bike services — which could include mountain bikes — at the board’s March meeting. Rental revenues have not covered the operating costs of the program for every quarter since the program began in 2021, according to a county spreadsheet. By the end of four years, the total gap was about $300,000.
Source: Johnson County Post
Panasonic is hiring for new De Soto plant, hopes to be ready for production this spring
A little over two years ago, local, state and federal officials gathered in a dirt lot on a windy day to celebrate construction beginning on Panasonic’s new electric vehicle battery facility in western Johnson County. Officials gathered again earlier this month to celebrate the plant — only this time inside the 4.7 million-square-foot facility. But there’s still a ways to go before the facility is fully operational. As of this month, Panasonic is just slightly behind its previously stated hiring goals, and it’s still unclear if it will meet its anticipated timeline for opening.
Source: KC Star Local News
Single-family home construction in Lawrence continues to decline as home prices rise
Construction of single-family homes in Lawrence continued to decline in 2024, reaching a new low with only 57 permits granted by the city. After averaging in the mid-100s for years, single-family home construction dropped off considerably in 2022 and fell even lower last year. “It’s just been even worse than what we would have anticipated,” said Bobbie Flory, executive director of the Lawrence Homebuilders Association. At the same time, sale prices for single-family homes have continued to rise.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Kansas House looks to cut property tax that funds public schools by $800M over five years
Public school advocates are asking lawmakers to proceed with caution as they consider slashing the statewide property tax that directly funds public education. Legislation in the House would lower the state rate from 20 to 18.5 mills in the next fiscal year, which starts June 1, and then freeze the annual tax collections at the current level for future years. The Kansas Department of Revenue estimates the impact would be $823.6 million over five years, assuming property values grow by 5% each year from 2026 to 2030. Debate Wednesday in the House Taxation Committee centered on concerns that the Legislature would return to a familiar pattern of lowering tax collections to the point that lawmakers eventually would cut public school funding and instigate another legal battle. The Kansas Supreme Court has repeatedly forced the Legislature to abide by a constitutional mandate to adequately and equitably fund public schools. Last year, the Supreme Court released jurisdiction over the most recent case, elevating fears by public schools that the Legislature could again pull the rug out from under them.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Mystery odor in Galena sparks concern among residents
A suspicious odor is in the air in the city of Galena. It has residents puzzled, and city leaders working to get to the bottom of it. City officials and residents say the odor is more potent in the early morning and in the late evening. “Smells like a combination of gas and rotten eggs and whatever else. I don’t know,” said Alumbaugh. Galena mayor Ashley Groves says for months the city has worked hand in hand with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help solve the mystery.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Parsons deputy chief prepares for FBI National Academy
A member of the Parsons Police Department is joining the FBI National Academy. Deputy Chief Dennis Dodd will join the 10-week program this summer. He was nominated by former police chief Jason Sharp back in 2017 and his nomination was reaffirmed in 2018 by the current police chief Robert Spinks. He tells us the process usually takes around 3 to 5 years to get in – and started when he was first nominated. The program includes a comprehensive coursework in intelligence theory – terrorism and terrorist mindsets – management – behavioral and forensic science – law and law enforcement communication.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Senate Tax Committee approves capping annual valuation increases to 3%
The Kansas Senate Tax Committee cleared the first hurdle for major property tax reform in the state by approving a proposed constitutional amendment limiting yearly increases in property valuations to 3%. If approved in both the Senate and House by 2/3 majorities, Kansas voters would go to the polls in November to decide the fate of SCR 1603.
Source: The Sentinel
Law restricts township fire station efforts
Soldier Township’s fire station is about 50 years old, but the laws governing how it could issue bonds for a new station are even older, and are preventing the community from even considering putting a question to its voters to fund a new station. …current laws on townships cap how much they can bond for.
Source: CJonline
Douglas County commissioners vote to require zinc monitoring for future solar projects
…solar energy projects use piers coated with zinc to support their solar panels. The new rule states that wells will have to be dug upstream and downstream of future solar projects and samples will have to be taken to see if zinc has gotten into the groundwater from those piers.
Source: LJWorld
Solar farm in Valley Center?
Under the ordinance, solar farms could only be located on properties that are zoned industrial. And a six-foot fence would be required around the entire development, among other requirements.
Source: Ark Valley News
Manufacturer to move U.S. operations to Winfield
A Swiss-based manufacturer of railroad track technology will move its U.S. operations to Winfield, it was announced Tuesday. … The company expects to initially hire 15 employees for its Winfield location…, with an additional 10 employees added per year over the next five years.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Prosecutor seeks to recruit lawyers
With only one law office left in the county, and that being a half-day satellite office of a McPherson County office, Marion County’s 11,690 residents are seriously underserved…. Newly installed county attorney Michelle Brown has ideas to recruit lawyers to the county.
Source: Marion County RECORD
Nurses wanted for rural communities
Kansas, especially in rural areas, faces a shortage of nurses that is expected to become worse, a recent Kansas Nursing Workforce Center report shows. … [Marion hospital] chief executive Alex Haines … explained that the hospital’s efforts to recruit and retain nurses is to involve them in decision making, ensure their pay is fair market value, and waive staff members’ patient responsibility for care they get at the hospital.
Source: Marion County RECORD