Municipal News & Jobs

“Small as we are, if we get one phone call, that can cause a ripple,” said Sean Pederson, the city manager of Bonner Springs, Kan., a community of about 7,800 residents some 20 miles west of Kansas City. Mr. Pederson said he has found himself mopping floors during the pandemic when city hall janitors were out with the virus. Over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, a snowstorm blanketed the region. With multiple employees out on the city’s public works staff, other departments scrambled to find workers to plow the streets. … It’s a familiar story in small towns across the country, where the spike in infections from the Omicron variant hit local governments with particular force. The virus has ripped through big cities like Los Angeles and New York, sidelining thousands of police officers and transit operators. In many, leaders have rushed to reassure residents that firefighters and paramedics will show up when they call amid record absences. But in small communities, the people responsible for keeping crucial public services up and running say the strain is acute: With bare-bones workforces already stretched thin, there is no margin for error when multiple workers have to call in sick.
Source: NY Times

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

Topeka’s mayor and city council will consider setting aside at least $35 million to be used to finance infrastructure projects out of the federal COVID relief funding the city will receive. That body on Feb. 1 will take up a proposal that would take that step while directing the council’s policy and finance committee to create a process to distribute the rest of the $45,676,831 the city has been awarded through the American Rescue Plan Act. “Once developed, this process will be brought back to the full body for its consideration,” says the proposed resolution, which is sponsored by interim city manager Bill Cochran.
Source: CJonline

Shawnee County gave its employees wage hikes totaling about $5 million after a study it had conducted in 2015 said they were generally underpaid. A similar but less comprehensive study conducted last year on the county’s behalf showed that once again, its employees on average were making less than the competitive market level. … The county remains in the early stages of implementing those recommendations, which were sought in an effort to ensure the wages the county pays are competitive with those offered by similar employers.
Source: CJonline

This spring could finally see construction begin on a long-delayed city road project that has been tied up in litigation for years. The Lawrence City Commission approved two special taxing districts in December 2018 to fund the reconstruction of Queens Road and the installation of a stoplight, and a lawsuit was subsequently filed in January 2019. Two courts have now dismissed the lawsuit, and while the individual who filed the lawsuit has again appealed, the city is moving forward with preparations for the project and tentatively plans to begin construction later this year.
Source: LJWorld.com

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.

A parade of state and local economic development leaders, however, painted the legislation as a key way of modernizing how the state attracts and retains large companies. Officials argued that mega-projects, or deals totaling more than $1 billion in investment, are now the norm and Kansas must keep up with the Jones — or, in this case, states like Texas and Arizona. … In this case, the legislation is largely targeted at the mystery company, who has agreed to create 4,000 permanent direct jobs, with an average income of $50,000. Paul Hughes, deputy secretary of commerce, told the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday that thousands more jobs will be created indirectly, either in construction or further down the supply chain.
Source: CJonline

The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. Every issuer’s credit is different. For rates that may be applicable to your municipality, contact our Municipal Bond Advisors, Larry Kleeman and Beth Warren.