Kansas Municipal News
Education legislation to watch
During Monday night’s board of education meeting, USD 250 Superintendent Rich Proffitt brought several current bills in the Kansas legislature to the attention of board members. Proffitt, always wary of legislative developments that affect education, briefed the board on a few potential bills that, if passed, will be felt by USD 250. The first matter of concern is the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to relinquish oversight of the Gannon decision. In 2017, the court ruled that legislative changes to K-12 school funding, which reduced state-aid payments augmenting funds generated through property taxation in school districts with lower property values, violated the Kansas constitution, which the court has interpreted as requiring equity and adequacy in the provision of financing for education. The court retained jurisdiction to ensure continued legislative compliance with the school funding requirements and the legislature has since scheduled a series of incremental increases to the base aid for student excellence (BASE) culminating in school year 2022-2023. At the request of Attorney General Kris Kobach, given the court’s stated purpose was to retain jurisdiction to ensure implementation of the phased-in amounts, which has occurred, most of the court grants the State’s motion to relinquish oversight. The fear now is the GOP controlled legislature, no longer under the court’s oversight, will “significantly underfund” public schools in the future, according to Rep. John Carmichael (D-Wichita).
Source: Morning Sun
Sedgwick Library offers a STEM program for kids
Last summer, the Harvey County Extension office ran a STEM program at Lillian Tear Library, and according to Librarian Chantel Rindt, everybody loved it. So she went out and got a grant and now runs a monthly STEM program for elementary-aged students. Last week, 13 kids (Rindt said they average 15 to 18 each month) gathered to build using sticks, marshmallows and gummy bears. Then they played a game of rolling dice that required adding to complete rows. Rindt said she doesn’t have a specific curriculum for the program but searches the Internet and uses a couple of books to come up with ideas. “I homeschool my youngest kiddo, and all the kids that will be here today are from our homeschool community,” Rindt said. That was for the 2 to 3 p.m. session. She also runs a 5 to 6 p.m. session and said she tries to schedule the monthly meetings on Fridays that won’t interfere with public school activities so kids can attend. The program has been going on since October. “It’s a lot of fun,” Rindt said. “We have 3-D printing pins that we used. We play games and build things, and it’s a lot of fun.” Next month, the STEM program will take place on Friday, March 15, from 2 to 3 p.m. and 5 to 6 p.m.
Source: Harvey County Now
Municipal Bond Trends for February 13, 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.
Pittsburg Community Schools’ superintendent named in announcement
Pittsburg Community Schools has a new superintendent. This evening, J.B. Elliott was announced for the role at a board of education meeting. He currently serves as the superintendent of Perry-Lecompton public schools, a title he’s had for the last 7 years. Elliott’s been a biology teacher, an athletic director, and a principal. He’s entering his 29th year in education, with the last 21 years spent serving as an administrator. Elliott tells us he is excited and looks forward to bringing a hard work ethic and more to the district. He will take over when the district’s superintendent, Rich Proffitt, retires on June 30th.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Appraiser’s Office launches new portal for property value appeals
The Johnson County Appraiser’s Office has launched a new online portal for property owners in the county to appeal their property value. The Appraiser’s Office determines property values, sending out Notices of Appraised Value to property owners in the spring each year. Property owners can then submit a property value appeal using the portal. To use the portal, you must create an account, then you can select the type of appeal you want to submit. There are two types of property appeals at the county level. The first type of appeal is an informal appeal when Notices of Appraised Value are mailed to property owners in spring. The second type is payment under protest in late spring or fall when you pay your taxes. You may use the new portal to file an appeal electronically (Note: You may only submit one appeal per year). On this webpage, you can view more detailed instructions on how to use the portal system. You can also view this user guide. If you have issues as you use the portal, please contact the Appraiser’s Office Support Services Team at 913-715-9000 or aprwebmaster@jocogov.org. Informal appeal applications are due no later than 30 days after you receive your Notice of Appraised Value. Notices will start hitting mailboxes for commercial real property on Feb. 12 and for residential real property on Feb. 26.
Source: Johnson County Kansas |
Here are the six Wichita schools proposed for permanent closure this year
Four Wichita elementary schools and two middle schools would be closed under a proposal considered by the school board Monday evening. Clark, Park, Payne and Cleaveland Traditional Magnet elementary schools would be shuttered, along with Hadley and Jardine Magnet middle school. Students would be reassigned to different schools as boundaries are redrawn, and employees at affected buildings would be offered other positions across the district. By law, a public hearing must be held before the district can close buildings. USD 259 also plans to hold a series of community listening and informational sessions for parents next week. Officials say the closures would save an estimated $16 million, which could be put toward plugging a looming $42 million budget shortfall that coincides with the exhaustion of the district’s federal pandemic relief funds. All six of the buildings recommended for closure serve a higher proportion of economically disadvantaged students (those who qualify for free or reduced lunch) than the district average of 79.2%, data from the Kansas Department of Education shows. Here’s a look at the schools, including their building utilization — enrollment divided by total capacity — and building condition or FCI, a score ranging from 0 (pristine condition) to 1 (extremely poor condition).
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Augusta airport runway renovation will strand tenants for 7 months
“For me, it means I have to commute a lot more around the section doing my engineering contract work,” said Keiter. Keiter has lived just east of the airport for 32 years. The problem is, in order to make room, the city permanently shut down 110th street, meaning Keiter now lives at a dead end instead of having a straight shot to Highway 54. “So four times a day, okay, times an eight-mile round trip extra. So that’s 32 extra miles a day on some days that I have to commute,” Keiter said. While the project will be a major challenge for people like Keiter and McLemore, the worn-out, pothole-ridden runway will become a brand new, bigger runway with modern flight equipment in hopes of ultimately bringing in even more money for the little airport. “Once we get through the project, and it’s unveiled, you know, I think it’ll really be great for our business and for Augusta too,” said McLemore. He’s talking about the massive runway reconstruction project that’s about to leave his business, and every airplane parked at the airport on the day of the closure, stranded for seven months. “It’s actually been in the works for almost 15 years, going back to the original studies. And now we’re finally in the process of building it,” said Augusta City Manager Josh Shaw. Shaw says the FAA is paying for 90% of the more than $11 million new runway, and the city already set aside the rest of the money it needs to pay for it in 2016.
Source: KAKE – News
‘I loved how it was:’ Johnson County neighbors fight apartment plans on tree-covered land
Bootsie Martin moved to Olathe’s Cedar Creek neighborhood for the nature. “I have deer that come in my backyard. In the spring they bring their babies. There are foxes running through my backyard. It’s the wildlife, the trees, the lake. I loved how it was,” said Martin, who has now lived in Cedar Creek, near the confluence of K-10 and K-7 highways, for about five years. But a fight is brewing in her quiet neighborhood over a proposed development, with many homeowners worried that the doorstep to their slice of paradise could forever change. The sprawling neighborhood is home to rolling hills and dense woods. Modern subdivisions — with homes ranging from $500,000 to $2 million — are tucked between winding roads marked by waterfalls and limestone bluffs. “I have to drive a ways for a grocery store, but I don’t care,” Martin said. “I wanted to live out here where it is quiet, remote. It is just something to see when you live out here.” Lenexa-based Oddo Development is proposing a mixed-use project at the southeast corner of Cedar Creek and Valley parkways, including four- and five-story luxury apartment buildings with 300 units and a parking garage below. Plans also include two buildings with 11 “brownstone” townhomes, priced at $500,000 and up, as well as retail and sit-down restaurants. Oddo Development is asking city officials to approve rezoning 14 acres, which is almost entirely covered by trees, to allow the project. The site was previously zoned for a hotel development.
Source: Joco 913 News
Liberal attempts Guinness World Records for pancakes
Liberal is attempting to break two Guinness World Records ahead of the 75th International Pancake Day (IPD) race on Tuesday. The race is a pre-Lenten tradition between Olney, England and Liberal. The race in Olney dates back to 1445. In Liberal, the race will take place at 11:55 a.m. The race will start at 6th and Kansas Avenue. On Monday, the IPD hosted an attempt to break the record for the longest line of pancakes. Each pancake had to touch each other in a continuous line. The IPD used 120 feet of tables to lay out 900 feet of pancakes which amounted to about 2,800 cakes. The pancakes will be repackaged and will go to food banks. On Tuesday, a record will be attempted to break the highest pancake toss. The current record stands at 31 feet, 2 inches and is held by Mike “Mr. Pancake” Cuzzacrea. Frank Hampton, the proclaimed “Pancake Maestro,” will attempt to break the record. For more Pancake Day information, go to www.pancakeday.net.
Source: KSN-TV
Exploring Kansas heritage with the Osage Trail
Members of the Southeast Kansas Museum Alliance are hoping a proposed project will help people learn more about Kansas history. Leaders in the Southeast Kansas Museum Alliance are discussing an official Osage Trail Byway designation through the Southeast Kansas region. So far, the Oak Grove School Historical Society has restored the Oak Grove School House which was built in 1877, it is southeast of Neosho County. “We’re getting ready to open it up to school districts in the Southeast Kansas region to bring fourth-grade school classes out. When they learn about Kansas history for the first time. And they can have a history, lesson, experience and activities there in the schoolhouse,” said Roger Pruitt, Oak Grove School Historical Society Treasurer. The schoolhouse was built along the Osage Trail Byway, a mile west of the Neosho River. “The Osage Trail had two main arteries. One came down from the north and came through Missouri and then down along the western bank of the Neosho River, all the way to Indian territory in Oklahoma. And the other one came across southern Missouri into the southeast corner of Kansas and went west all the way to the Santa Fe Trail,” said Pruitt.
Source: KSNF/KODE
No injuries after train derails in southwest Kansas
Authorities say no one was hurt when a train derails near Hazelton in south-central Kansas early Monday morning. The incident happened at around 5:20 a.m. east of Hazelton in southeastern Barber County. A county emergency management official said there were no reports of injuries, no hazardous materials were involved, and no homes were in danger. Investigators are on scene working to determine the cause. Barber County Emergency Management shared a photo on Facebook showing multiple cars piled up and told KAKE News there were three piles like it. Director Mike Loreg later shared additional photos.
Source: KAKE – News
Prices rose more than expected in January as inflation won’t go away
Inflation rose more than expected in January as stubbornly high shelter prices weighed on consumers, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. The consumer price index, a broad-based measure of the prices shoppers face for goods and services across the economy, increased 0.3% for the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. On a 12-month basis, that came out to 3.1%, down from 3.4% in December. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a monthly increase of 0.2% and an annual gain of 2.9%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the so-called core CPI accelerated 0.4% in January and was up 3.9% from a year ago, unchanged from December. The forecast had been for 0.3% and 3.7%, respectively. Shelter prices, which comprise about one-third of the CPI weighting, accounted for much of the rise. The index for that category climbed 0.6% on the month, contributing more than two-thirds of the headline increase, the BLS said. On a 12-month basis, shelter rose 6%. Food prices moved higher as well, up 0.4% on the month. Energy helped offset some of the increase, down 0.9% due largely to a 3.3% slide in gasoline prices. Stock market futures fell sharply following the release. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were off more than 250 points and Treasury yields surged higher.
Source: Economy
Municipal Bond Trends for February 12, 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.
What’s in Humboldt’s century-old time capsule?
A mystery 100 years in the making was recently solved in Humboldt, Kansas. “We started trying to get into it last year,” said Amber Wheeler, Superintendent, Humboldt Schools. Humboldt superintendent Amber Wheeler says despite having newspaper coverage to go off of, this box, a time capsule from 1922, remained elusive for more than a year. “When they pulled out the little black box it was an excitement for everybody,” said Wheeler. Wheeler says they knew the capsule was somewhere around the cornerstone of the high school… but when they pulled the bricks around it last year, they came up empty. “There wasn’t anybody to ask. One hundred years ago is a long time. There was nobody to ask where they really put it, or how they had put it in there. We had one newspaper article and a whole lot of guesses,” said Wheeler. This year, they pulled the cornerstone out as part of adding on to the school. And inside of the cornerstone — was the capsule. “Who knows what’s in there, and how things have survived in the last 100 years,” said Wheeler. Monday night, they found out. “What we can see right now is that there is obviously something that was a baseball at one point in time,” said Wheeler.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Newton sees resignation of high school, grade school principals
At its February 12 meeting the USD 373 Board of Education approved a personnel report that included the names of two building administrators under the resignation column. Newton High School Principal Blake Smith’s name was listed with his final day with the district being June 30 – the last day of the school’s fiscal year. Smith worked as an assistant principal at the high school starting in 2019, before taking over in August of 2022, replacing then principal Caleb Smith. Sherri Terrell, who’s been principal of South Breeze this school year was also listed as resigning, with her departure date in June. Harvey County Now reached out to both administrators late Monday night after viewing the personnel report and hopes to add more information to this article, once they’ve replied.
Source: Harvey County Now
Topeka petition seeks to demand ‘a public vote before they raise our taxes’
Keeping Topeka’s city government from raising property taxes without a public vote is the aim of a recently initiated petition drive. The petition calls for the passage of a proposed ordinance that would ban the city from collecting more property taxes in any given year than it collected the previous year, said Topekan Earl McIntosh, the petition drive’s leader.
Source: CJonline
Rush County hospital transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital’
Rush County Memorial Hospital announced Friday that the hospital will be transitioning to a ‘rural emergency hospital.’ The hospital will continue to provide a 24/7 emergency room, lab and radiology services, outpatient care, physical therapy, the Wellness Center, and the medical clinic. In addition, Locust Grove Village will continue to provide nursing home services. The intermediate swing bed unit (formerly long-term care) will be closed. In addition, the rural emergency hospital model does not support inpatient services such as swing bed and acute care. The hospital cites Covid, reimbursement changes, declining population, and increasing business costs as the reasons behind the change. “The decisions were made with careful consideration to the impact they would have on our community,” a statement from the hospital reads. The hospital will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the changes and answer questions Thursday, February 15, at the La Crosse City Auditorium.
Source: KAKE – News
Sunflower Electric Power Corporation announces third solar project
Sunflower Electric Power Corp. is partnering on a 150-megawatt solar energy project near Fort Dodge Station, the company’s electric generating facility one mile southeast of Dodge City, Kan. Expected commercial operation is during the first half of 2026. Sunflower is a cooperatively operated wholesale generation and transmission utility serving seven member distribution utilities located in western Kansas. The Boot Hill Solar Project will join Sunflower’s 20-megawatt Johnson Corner Solar Project (JCSP), which came online in April 2020, and Sunflower’s 20-megawatt Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell Project, scheduled for commercial operation in January 2025, in providing solar power to Sunflower’s members and those they serve. Because it produces on-peak energy during the hottest days of the year when the Sunflower system experiences its peak demand for electricity, the Boot Hill Solar Project will complement the company’s other generation resources, which are powered by natural gas, coal, and wind. In addition to providing on-peak renewable energy, the project will also provide the system with incremental capacity. The Victory Electric Cooperative Assn., Inc., located in Dodge City, joins Sunflower’s six other member-owners in supporting the Boot Hill Solar Project, which will surpass the JCSP and the Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell projects as the largest operating solar facility in the state. Strategically locating the Boot Hill Solar project near existing Sunflower assets will provide cost and schedule benefits to all of the member-owners.
Source: Sunflower Electric Power Corporation
Prairiefire bank seeks court guidance over how defaulted bonds should be paid
Prairiefire is looking for guidance on how to pay down the first tranche of almost $65 million in defaulted debt, since the Overland Park development hasn’t yielded enough sales taxes to fully cover those obligations. UMB Bank, the trustee for Prairiefire’s sales tax revenue (STAR) bonds, seeks guidance through a legal petition filed in Minneapolis, where its Corporate Trust Services department is based. The bank on Jan. 30 asked a Hennepin County District Court judge to confirm how about $4.2 million in available funds should be applied to $14.9 million in bond principal and $1.75 million in interest that came due for Prairiefire in mid-December. Kansas’ STAR bond program is designed to draw new out-of-state visitors by helping municipalities finance commercial, entertainment and tourism projects. The bonds are covered by new sales taxes generated through the projects. However, in Prairiefire’s case, initial sales projections were overestimated. State auditors in 2021 said the project would take anywhere from 14 to 72 years longer than expected to retire the bonds. Prairiefire produced $389,459 in sales taxes to cover $16.6 million in total bond principal and interest owed as of Dec. 15, and UMB Bank transferred the $3.78 million entirety of the bonds’ reserve fund to help cover debt service. However, the bank raised conflicting provisions in its trust indenture with Overland Park on how those funds should be allocated toward principal and interest payments in the event of a shortfall. The provisions applied will affect which bondholders are due payments, and in what amounts.
Source: Kansas City Business Journal
Some Midwest states take power to ban wind and solar projects away from local communities
The land in Piatt County in central Illinois is flat, and it’s easy to see for miles around Jerry Edwards’ house in a rural area north of Mansfield. In a few months, his view will include a wind farm, with two wind turbines close by. “There will be a tower the size of the Gateway Arch back this way in where the green cover crop is,” Edwards said. “And then in the field, just east of it … there will be a second right out a mile from here.” Edwards, who is the vice chairman of the Piatt County Board, was among those who voted down the project in March 2023. Then, just seven months later, the board reversed course and approved the Prosperity Wind Project in a 4-2 vote. While Edwards voted no both times, he said that on the second vote, his fellow board members felt they had no choice but to approve the Apex Clean Energy project, which will bring up to 50 wind turbines over 20,000 acres of farmland across two townships. That’s because of a new law passed by the Illinois General Assembly last year, setting statewide standards for wind and solar projects. “In a nutshell, the governor, the Speaker of the House, and the head of the Senate basically had a gun held to their head, saying you are going to vote for this,” Edwards said, “or else you subjected the county to lawsuits that would break the county.” Across the Midwest a tug of war is taking place over renewable energy projects, like the one in Piatt County. In Iowa, Woodbury County all but eliminated the possibility of wind projects by increasing setbacks for turbines. The town of New Bloomfield, Missouri, adopted regulations barring solar farms within 1,000 feet of the city limits. In Buffalo County, Nebraska, commissioners unanimously voted for restrictions that require wind turbines be at least 3 miles from any dwelling and 5 miles from a town. But Illinois and Michigan are pushing back, with new laws that make it hard for local governments to say no to green projects.
Source: KCUR News