Municipal News & Jobs

For many years, Jackson County road and bridge crews have maintained an estimated 50 miles of roads on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation reservation on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and county commissioners are now seeking reimbursement for that work. Since 2008, the county has spent an estimated $3,657,626.52 on labor, materials and equipment to maintain those roads, according to Scott Kieffaber, county public works director. Kieffaber recently presented county commissioners with a list of road work and repairs completed on those roads since 2008, along with their associated costs. While working with BIA officials to identify which bridges in the county were being maintained by the Tribe, Kieffaber received a map from the BIA showing which roads within the reservation boundaries were designated as BIA routes and which were county routes. After reviewing the map, Kieffaber determined that about 50 miles of BIA routes were being maintained by the county’s road and bridge department.
Read more: Holton Recorder

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced on Dec. 22 that the Kansas City Chiefs are hopping the state line to build a new stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, and that Olathe will be the home of the NFL team’s new headquarters and training facility. Despite the big announcement, the deal for the $3 billion project isn’t finalized, and specifics of the deal remain largely under wraps. At least $1.8 billion in sales tax revenue raised by state-backed STAR bonds — a financing tool that uses sales tax revenues generated by a project to pay for developments — will help pay for the stadium in KCK. STAR bonds are also set to pay for up to $975 million more in costs related to the team HQ in Olathe and a surrounding mixed-use district that’s being promised as part of that. Despite the celebration last month on the part of state, local and team officials when the deal was unveiled in Topeka, some big votes remain for local governments, including in Wyandotte County and Olathe, where the new facilities are slated to go.
Read more: Johnson County Post

Johnson County officials are threatening legal action against a Prairie Village man, saying he reneged on a credit card payment used to secure a hand recount of a much-discussed ballot question to “abandon” city government last November. In a Jan. 8 letter obtained by the Post, Peggy Trent, the county’s chief counsel, told John Cantrell, the Prairie Village resident who requested the recount, that he must repay the county $4,828.46 for the cost of the recount by February 6. If he doesn’t pay by then, Trent warned the county “may pursue any or all legal remedies available.” In the letter, Trent said that after the recount was completed in November, Cantrell reversed his credit card authorization to pay for the recount “without any legal basis to do so.”
Read more: Johnson County Post

The Prairiefire project in Overland Park defaulted on bonds meant to be repaid through a CID. Two years ago, it defaulted on a tranche of STAR bonds, too.
Read more: Kansas City Business Journals

The City of Hays is in the running for the 2025 Community of the Year Award from Community Playmaker. The city is one of three finalists for the annual award from the publication marketed to city and county governments. The other finalists are Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Monessen, Pennsylvania. In Community Playmaker’s announcement, it cited Hays’ recent investments in a new multimillion-dollar high school, partnerships with Fort Hays State University and local businesses, the Accessible Recreation Complex, the Bob and Pat Schmidt Community Center, along with community events like the Wild West Festival and Oktoberfest as among the reasons the city was singled out for recognition.
Read more: KSN-TV

In an era of ever-increasing cost of living, the Kansas Legislature is focusing on property tax relief in the upcoming session on Monday. One constitutional amendment in particular will be up for discussion. The Cap Assessed Value Protection Amendment Bill affects the assessed value of your home. Assessed value is what property taxes are based on. If the bill passes, that value would not be allowed to increase more than 3% each year. Assessed value is not the same as appraised value. Appraised value is a fair market share set by a county appraiser. Around 11% of that number is assessed value.
Read more: KSN-TV

The City of Arkansas City has reorganized its Neighborhood Services Division to form a new Community Development Division, bringing all development-related services under one coordinated team. “This reorganization allows the City to better align planning, development and enforcement functions under one division,” said Shana Adkisson, city spokesperson. “By coordinating these services, we can improve efficiency, provide clearer guidance for residents and developers, and better support long-term growth and neighborhood revitalization.” The new division aligns planning and zoning, permitting, building inspections and code enforcement, supporting the City’s Comprehensive Plan and City Commission goals.
Read more: Cowley Post

One of the first things South Hutchinson City Administrator Jeff Schenk pursued when he took the position more than two years ago was rebranding the city’s image. “I want us to be a good neighbor, and it took a while for everyone to get on board with the rebranding,” Schenk said. “But now it’s starting to pay off.” The good neighbor mantra isn’t just new logos on the city’s website and other materials, it’s the overriding philosophy when it comes to not just how the city provides services to its residents but to its relationships with other Reno County governing bodies and how it works with existing businesses and to bring new businesses into the city, he said.
Read more: The Hutchinson Tribune

A new program aimed at recruiting remote workers to the Manhattan area experienced positive early results, local officials said Thursday. Representatives from the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce and Riley County Planning and Development updated the Riley County commission Thursday on efforts of MakeMyMove, a relocation incentive program that is also part of the state’s Home in the Heartland Initiative.
Read more: themercury.com

The Kansas City Chiefs’ plan to build a new domed stadium on the Kansas side, along with a new training facility and headquarters in Olathe, would be supported by a special incentive package for entertainment and tourism draws. Called STAR bonds, for Kansas Sales Tax and Revenue bonds, this type of incentive involves issuing bond debt to cover part of a project’s price tag that is then paid back over a set period of time using sales tax revenues generated by retail and dining sales within a project’s defined boundaries. State and team officials last month unveiled a deal that would have public dollars account for up to 60% of the cost of a new Chiefs stadium and team facility in Kansas, with the team picking up the other 40%. The STAR bond package shaping up for the Chiefs’ project is different and much larger in size, scope and total projected dollar amount than the typical STAR bond deal. Still, Johnson County has experience with these incentives: there are already three such active STAR bond districts in the county — two in Overland Park and one in the works also in Olathe.
Read more: Johnson County Post

… a county may not implement a tax rebate program unless it is authorized by, and complies with, a state statutory scheme. Harper County instituted the Ad Valorem Rebate Program to offer tax rebates from county ad valorem property taxes to program participants. … for the Rebate Program to be valid, it must be based on, and comply with, a state statutory tax rebate scheme.
Read more: Kansas Attorney General Opinions

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.

How dry has it been in Crawford County since early October? Very, very dry. In fact, according to the National Weather Service’s weather data at Atkinson Municipal Airport outside of Pittsburg, since Oct. 1, the airport area has received just two-hundredths of an inch, with that two-hundredth of an inch falling early Monday morning. Add wind speeds approaching 15 miles per hour throughout the past several weeks, and you get a very high risk of fire, which has prompted a burn ban. Burn bans have been issued nine times over the past two months. A new one was issued Monday morning by Crawford County Emergency Management. It is in effect until early Tuesday morning.
Read more: – Morning Sun

That school bus drivers are in short supply is not news. Districts across the U.S. have been struggling to fill vacant positions for a long time. But in Pittsburg’s USD 250, the situation is getting critical.
Read more: – Latest Stories

The director of the Riley County Police Department says he rejects any suggestions that local police are siding with federal immigration enforcement or pushing back against it. “We don’t actively participate in immigration detention, but we do follow the law,” Brian Peete said. Peete joined Within Reason with Mike Matson Friday on News Radio KMAN, responding to controversy involving Manhattan Municipal Court Judge Sarah Barr, who reportedly asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to leave her courtroom Dec. 4. They were waiting to arrest a woman appearing on DUI and hit-and-run charges.
Read more: News Radio KMAN

As freshmen legislators last year, Rep. Allen Reavis and Rep. Lon Pishny began having conversations about the unspoken impact state laws and regulations have on city and county governments. Bills were being debated, Reavis said, “and it just felt like the effect it would have on local government wasn’t being fully measured.” “If you’re a legislator who lives in a large city, you may not have the understanding of what happens in a small town with that same legislation,” he added.
Read more: www.derbyinformer.com

City officials in Allen have approved a reduction in the city’s ad valorem tax rate and plan to issue rebates to residents after sharp fluctuations in property valuations led to unexpected increases in some property tax bills this year, according to Allen City Clerk Cary Miles. Miles said the city noticed property tax increases that ranged widely — some seeing increases of more than 25%, while others experienced little change or even decreases. The variations stemmed largely from shifts in property valuations conducted by the county appraiser, combined with budgeting decisions made before the full impact of those valuation changes was known.
Read more: www.emporiagazette.com *

Garden City has a new, advanced tornado siren. Mike Muirhead, Garden City Public Works and Utilities Director, said the city’s newest emergency siren, installed at 300 Jennie Barker Rd., is more advanced than the city’s 22 other emergency sirens. “Some of them were manufactured in the 1950s and the 1960s,” he said. Each year they try to replace one of the old sirens, and every year when they replace a siren, there’s a newer style that comes out, Muirhead said. Some of the newer styles now have voice activated sirens or warning devices with pre-recorded messages that can be broadcast, Muirhead said.
Read more: Garden City Telegram

County Attorney Heather Figger recently informed commissioners that she plans to transition the county’s case management system to Guardify, due to its artificial intelligence capabilities, which enable searching files with specific direction. Figger said the issue is the amount of digital storage the county is accumulating and the time its current system, Prosecutor by Karpel (PBK), takes to manage data. She said in June, they had around three terabytes of digital evidence, are now at five terabytes, and expect to be at seven next summer.
Read more: Harvey County Now