Kansas Municipal News
WSU study projects metropolitan shift
Harvey County is expected to shrink in population, rural areas will continue to decline, and in 50 years, more than three-quarters of the state’s population will live in metropolitan areas. Those are the findings of a study by the Center for Economic Development and Business Research based out of Wichita State University. It projects an average growth rate of 0.3 percent per year, a decline from the 5.4 percent annual growth experienced between 1960 and 2010. “Kansas is expected to be pulling out of the period of population slowing that we’ve seen over the past few years,” Jonathan Norris, research economist for CEDBR, said. “This return to population growth is going to mean a couple of important things—one of which is that we’re expecting the Kansas labor market to be able to continue expanding and the Kansas economy continue to grow. Though we’re heading toward growth of the population overall, there remains the trend of increasing migration toward metropolitan and micropolitan areas.”
Source: Harvey County Now
Johnson County schools start year with hundreds of vacancies. The worst hit: Special ed
Johnson County is starting the school year with hundreds of positions unfilled, as districts in the region manage a record number of vacancies, especially in special education. Labor shortages continue to plague school districts in Kansas and Missouri this year, as educators leave their jobs at higher rates and fewer applicants seek to replace them. Last month, Shane Carter, director of teacher licensure with the Kansas education department, said schools in the state reported 1,634 teacher vacancies this spring. That’s up from 1,381 the spring before, when officials warned it was the state’s worst-ever shortage. The highest number continues to be in special education, with 377 teaching jobs unfilled across the state this spring. Even in Johnson County school districts, which tend to pay teachers higher salaries than in urban and more rural areas, the special ed teacher shortage is acute. The Olathe district has eight vacant special education teacher jobs this month, while Blue Valley has 13 being filled by substitutes.
Source: Joco 913 News
Child care can cost more than a mortgage in Kansas, but providers can barely afford to stay open
Ann Elliott runs one of the largest child care centers in all of Kansas. The Family Resource Center, or The Center, in Pittsburg, Kansas, is licensed to care for over 350 kids At $145 a week for toddlers, $135 a week for 30 month to 5 year olds, and $185 a month for preschool — parents might assume Elliott and her staff are rolling in money. They aren’t. They lose money on child care and grants help offset the loss. “It doesn’t pay for an employee to make a living wage,” Elliott said. “We’ve been around 25 years. So somehow we’re continuing and we will continue as long as we can.” Kansas is at a crossroads, child care providers and experts say. Child care slots are hard to come by and they are expensive. Some parents quit their jobs because child care eats up entire paychecks and it’s just cheaper to be a stay-at-home parent. Others are paying more for child care than their mortgage.
Source: KCUR News
Lawrence school district partners with county to prevent truancy
The Lawrence school district is partnering with county agencies to hopefully prevent students from being introduced to the criminal legal system for missing too much school. The district is partnering with Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez’s office, Douglas County Youth Services and the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) to address truancy. Students are considered truant if they are absent without excuse for a “significant portion” of the school day for three days in a row, for five days in a semester, or for seven days in a school year. At the high school level, a “significant portion” of the school day is one class period, according to Lawrence High School Associate Principal Mark Preut.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Municipal Bond Trends for August 28, 2023
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.
Governor Kelly Establishes Advisory Panel for Regional Psychiatric Hospital in South Central Kansas
Governor Laura Kelly announced today that, to improve state mental health care, she has signed Executive Order 23-05 establishing the South Central Regional Psychiatric Hospital Advisory Panel. The 14-member panel is tasked with gathering public input and making recommendations on the operation, location, and workforce development needs of the proposed 50-bed psychiatric hospital in south central Kansas. The panel will examine how a state hospital would fit into existing or planned services in the region and identify existing resources, gaps in services, and opportunities to improve access to mental health services.
Source: Governor of the State of Kansas
Kansas mental health experts discuss gaps in services for farmers and ranchers at inaugural summit
Kansas mental health care workers acknowledge a gap in mental health services and data for farmers and ranchers in the western portion of the state. Officials with the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness held an inaugural summit Aug. 22 in Dodge City, called “Standing in the Gap,” to highlight the difficulties of accessing mental health care services in rural Kansas and offer potential solutions to frontier mental health issues. NAMI Kansas executive director Sherrie Vaughn said her Topeka-based organization is concerned about the lack of mental health care in some rural areas.
Source: Kansas Reflector
Macksville City Library has a summer for the books
With school back in session, the 2023 Summer Reading Program at the Macksville City Library has come to a close. Library Director Jody Suiter shared a recap: We embraced the All Together Now theme with puzzles, games, books, special speakers, and TEAM-work reminding participants that “Together Everyone Achieves More.” It was a dream come true to host Summer Reading in our new library addition! For the first time, ever, we were able to spread out, beyond the walls of our former one-room library. And, while we are still raising funds for shelves and furnishings, the kids didn’t ever complain.
Source: Great Bend Tribune
Sedgwick County works to decrease long lines on election day
Sedgwick County is planning to add up to 30 new polling sites for next year’s election. According to Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater, many polling sites currently have too many registered voters. Rainwater said some sites have over 7,000 and the target is to have between 3,000 to 3,500 at each site. She said they have 83 polling sites and adding the 30 will take them to 113. “We are trying to reduce the size and the number of registered voters assigned to these polling day sites so that we don’t have so many people in long lines especially during a presidential year,” said Rainwater.
Source: KAKE – News
Shawnee taps Overland Park staffer as 2nd assistant city manager
Another assistant city manager is headed to the city of Shawnee. City Manager Doug Gerber announced last week that the city had hired Chelsee Chism as a second assistant city manager…. Chism has more than 10 years of experience from the city of Overland Park, including five years in the city manager’s office there, according to a Shawnee city press release.
In Overland Park, she served as the city manager’s office’s liaison to the public works department and supervised the city’s facilities and sustainability divisions. … Colin Duffy, Shawnee’s current assistant city manager, is staying in his role, meaning Shawnee will have two assistant city managers once Chism comes on board.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Prairie Village to address pickleball noise at Windsor Park
The national furor over pickleball noise has made its way to Prairie Village. The city recently installed six pickleball courts at Windsor Park, 7200 Windsor St., and after receiving some complaints from neighbors about the incessant thwack-thwack noise coming from the courts, the city says it is looking at ways to address it. At the same time that the recreational sport has exploded in popularity in recent years, pickleball noise has also become the subject of numerous lawsuits across the U.S., including an apparently now-settled one involving pickleball courts at Mission Hills Country Club.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Wichita officials looking to intervene in Evergy rate case
Wichita City Council members are talking about intervening in the rate increase request by Evergy. The Council has unanimously approved a resolution stating opposition to the rate increase. The Kansas Corporation Commission has scheduled a hearing in October, and council members are talking about providing testimony during that hearing. Council member Bryan Frye said the resolution would be only one step in the process and he hopes the council will agree to intervene in the case.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Mulvane tabs St. John as new city admin
Following a six-month hiring process, the Mulvane City Council announced its new city administrator at its Aug. 21 meeting, with Austin St. John selected to take over for Kent Hixson. According to The Mulvane News, St. John is slated to start on Oct. 7 after Hixson’s official retirement. St. John has served as the city administrator in Marysville for the past seven years, previously filling the same role in Chapman from 2014-2016.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Haysville to vote on sales tax continuation
At its Aug. 14 meeting, according to The Times Sentinel, the Haysville City Council voted to place the renewal of the city’s 1% sales tax on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election. Per council action, the sales tax renewal will appear as a special question on general election ballots asking if voters would like to extend the tax, which would go into effect July 1, 2024. Haysville’s current sales tax will sunset on June 30, 2024. Sales tax funds in Haysville are used for local street projects as well as park and recreation improvements, which the 10-year renewal would continue to address if approved.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
City of Emporia lifts water conservation request following weeklong heatwave and high level water usage
After three days, the City of Emporia has lifted its voluntary water conservation request. The request, in place since Wednesday morning, came at a time when the city was seeing record water usage that nearly drained the Industrial Park water tower near Warren Way and significantly lowered the capacity at the East 12th tower. Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking says the city’s water treatment pumps couldn’t keep up with demand Tuesday and Wednesday leading to the conservation request.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio
A sports park’s financial woes highlight a risky corner of the municipal-bond market.
Legacy Park in Mesa, Ariz., spread over 320 acres, filed for bankruptcy in May, 15 months after it opened and three years after a local government entity agreed to issue muni bonds to pay for the park’s construction. The bonds recently traded at roughly 10 cents on the dollar, and the park is looking for a buyer. The local entity that issued the bonds is known as a conduit issuer and, unlike a city or town that issues muni bonds, bears no responsibility for repaying the debt. The park’s financial troubles have raised questions about whether the conduit setup, in addition to often being complicated and risky for investors, is vulnerable to abuse.
Source: WSJ.com: Markets
Taking Sidewalks Seriously
It’s been 50 years since the sociologist Mark Granovetter published his landmark study celebrating “weak ties” — the casual everyday relationships that add to the stronger connections with family and close friends and make a critical contribution to human well-being in any town or city. Weak ties are the informal contacts we make at the grocery store, at the pharmacy, at the bank, in church and in a whole array of other places we frequent. They bring order and opportunity to our lives. But the most important locus of these contacts may be one we tend to forget about: the plain old sidewalk. … Sidewalks are such an important part of urban social life that it seems a shame cities don’t do a better job of creating and maintaining them. A recent study by the urban planner Todd Litman concluded that the average city spent about 1 percent of its infrastructure budget on sidewalks, even though walking accounted for 11 percent of residents’ trips every day and pedestrian fatalities constituted 17 percent of all traffic deaths.
Source: Governing
KDOT will use $45 million from feds to help fix bridges across state
Kansas transportation officials want to help local governments pay for repairs to bridges. “This is really to address what I consider one of the big issues that will be coming to our state in the coming decades, and that is the backlog of bridges on the local system that will need to be addressed,” said Calvin Reed, acting secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation. … Through a new federal program in the bipartisan infrastructure law, Kansas has been allocated $45 million a year to address bridges. State officials decided the best way to spend the money is on local bridges. But local officials won’t actually get the federal money, Reed said. Instead, KDOT is doing an internal funds swap, with the state agency using the federal money on state-owned bridges while displacing an equal amount of state funds to go to the local bridge improvement program.
Source: Salina Journal
USDA Announces More Than $49 Million to Strengthen Rural Kansas Water Infrastructure
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Kansas State Director Christy Davis today announced that USDA is investing $49.1 million to help rural utilities build and improve clean drinking water and sanitary wastewater systems in rural Kansas. … The details of the Kansas projects are:
- A $6,400,000 loan will help complete rehabilitation work on the water and wastewater systems in Perry. The project will rehabilitate approximately 24,000 linear feet of the collection system, upgrade approximately 15,000 feet of lines and other equipment, repair lift stations, and install backup generators. It will help provide the city with safe and reliable water and sewer systems for years to come.
- A $2,225,000 loan will help rehabilitate 39,000 feet of the sewer collection system in Mankato. It will correct existing deficiencies and help provide a safe and reliable sewer system.
- A $7,843,000 loan and a $3,015,000 grant will help build Phase 2 of this water project for Neosho County Rural Water District #4. This phase includes construction of a booster pump station and a 400,000-gallon elevated storage tank, installation of 39 miles of lines, and replacement of 78 miles of lines. It will help provide customers with adequate water pressure for years to come.
- A $13,300,000 loan and a $3,393,000 grant will help refurbish the water system in the City of Girard. Improvements will help replace 42 miles of mains; install new valves, meters, and hydrants; and construct a new water softening treatment plant. This project will allow the city to provide safe and reliable water to its residents and the surrounding community for years to come.
- A $9,494,000 loan and a $3,493,500 grant will help replace distribution piping, valves, hydrants and meters for the City of Humboldt. Improvements will also be made to the supply intake system and repainting three water storage towers. Previously the city received funding from USDA in the form of a Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households grant in the amount of $27,500, which was used complete the pre-development planning.
Amtrak gives timeline for Newton station upgrades, future expansion
Amtrak will provide upgrades to the Newton station, and an expansion of service remains very much on the table. Amtrak officials met with representatives for the City of Newton on Wednesday to discuss plans and left generally impressed with the preparations the city has made. “You’re ready to go, and to have a fruitful and substantive discussion with us” Derrick James, Amtrak director of government affairs, told those present, including Mayor Leroy Koehn, Commissioner Rod Kreie and City Manager Kelly McElroy. James reviewed plans the city drew up for upgrades to the station and surrounding area and discussed how they would work with Amtrak plans to provide upgrades to the station, as well.
Source: Harvey County Now