Kansas Municipal News
In Garden City, 20-year-old son of Vietnamese immigrants wins city commission seat
Tom Nguyen wanted to run for office after his parents, both Vietnamese immigrants, became U.S. citizens in March. “What’s more American than to run for public office?” Nguyen said. Nguyen, 20, won a seat on the Garden City city commission according to unofficial results Tuesday from the Finney County Clerk’s Office. Nguyen secured his seat with 1,682 total votes, more than any other of the five candidates who were up for three open seats. “My heart is so full of all of the love that has been offered to me by our community,” Nguyen said. “My win has plowed the ground for the younger generation to see how important and invaluable their young voices are.”
Source: KAKE – News
Voters decide on sales tax issues across Kansas
Voters decided on sale tax issues across Kansas. Derby increases its sales tax by 1%, with 55% percent of voters approving it. The new tax will bring in $5 million a year for roads, parks, new police cars and fire equipment. In Fowler, voters approved a one-cent sales tax. Most of the money goes to the school district for art and music teachers. The rest will pay off debt and lower property taxes. Conway Springs voters gave approval to a 2% hike. The money will be used to fix roads. Plains in Meade County rejected a half-cent sales tax that would have been used to repay a $500,000 loan the city received to open a grocery store in 2021.
Source: KSN-TV
Solar developers are flocking to Kansas. But many communities are skeptical of their proposals.
About 10 miles north of El Dorado on U.S. Highway 77, a break appears in the rolling cattle ranches and farmland of the Flint hills. It’s a different sort of farm – a solar farm. It supplies electricity to several small towns throughout Lincoln Township in Butler County. “We’re not anti-solar,” said Terry Lowmaster, a trustee of the township, which gets some of this electricity. “We have a one megawatt here in our backyard that benefits our local residents.” At the same time, he and other local residents protested earlier this year when a Chicago-based developer applied for a permit to build a new solar farm – a $550 million dollar, 3,500-acre project. His reasoning for his opposition to one, and not the other? The existing solar farm is just 12 acres. Plus, it’s run by a local rural electric cooperative. “They have an office downtown. The employees live in the area. Their kids go to school with our kids, our grandkids,” Lowmaster said. “It’s home, you know? It’s a community, and they’re part of it.”… Lowmaster doesn’t see why he should trust solar corporations from out-of-town. He wondered how they could be held accountable on certain promises, like the number of jobs the project is meant to create or training for local firefighters. “They swoop in, they develop, they sell, and they’re gone,” Lowmaster said.
Source: KCUR News
Kansas Attorney General Opinion 2023-11: Submission of Land Surveys
Synopsis: A register of deeds cannot require a submitting land surveyor to certify that a survey complies with all zoning ordinances and regulations.
Source: Kansas Attorney General Opinions
Municipal Bond Trends for November 7, 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.
Derby votes to approve a higher sales tax
Derby voters approved a sales tax increase expected to generate around $4 million to $5 million annually with the aim of alleviating property taxes while supporting public safety, streets, sidewalks, parks and trails. The tax increase was approved by 55% of voters, according to Sedgwick County unofficial election results Tuesday night. The “1% Derby Difference sales tax” will replace the current half percent sales tax that expires on Dec. 31, 2024, according to the city’s website. The new 1% sales tax would start on Jan. 1, 2025 and run through Dec. 31, 2034. Derby’s overall sales tax rate now is 8%, with most of that going to the state. The increase will push Derby’s overall sales tax rate to 8.5% in 2025. “I’m excited for the City of Derby, I can’t help it,” Derby Mayor Randy White said in a phone call after the vote. “I’m excited that the citizens can see what good things we can do with this 1% sales tax.” In a survey earlier this year, a majority of Derby residents said they prefer sales tax over property taxes. Sales tax dollars would go to public safety equipment, capital improvements and maintenance, and improvements to streets, sidewalks, parks and trails.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Leawood sends funds to Israeli sister city amid ongoing war
The city of Leawood has stepped in to help Israelis during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The Leawood City Council on Monday approved a $25,000 donation to its sister city, the Gezer Region of Israel. The donation goes to the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, which will send the funds directly to humanitarian efforts in Gezer. The Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City has already raised roughly $2.6 million for Israel through its own efforts, according to representatives from the organization. Leawood and Gezer officially became sister cities in September 2003, after Leawood city representatives visited Gezer in 2002. In 2009, the city of Leawood built and dedicated Gezer Park at 133rd Street and Mission Road to its sister city, and the 10-acre park also features two public art pieces in tribute to Gezer. Gezer is one of two sister cities to Leawood — the other city being I-Lan, Taiwan. The $25,000 comes out of the city’s annual budget for both sister cities, Gezer and I-Lan.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Stop Rezoning-backed candidates win four seats on Prairie Village City Council
In some of Johnson County’s most-watched general election races this year, Prairie Village candidates backed by the Stop Rezoning group won four city council seats. A fifth Stop Rezoning-backed candidate remains in a close contest and will need to wait until provisional and mail-in ballots are counted for a final result. This year, the Prairie Village City Council election was in the spotlight as the 11 candidates vying for six seats were split on the hotly contested housing discussion, which has divided the city for more than a year. More than half of the candidates were supported by Stop Rezoning Prairie Village, the group of residents who banded together last year in opposition to the city’s ad hoc housing recommendations.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Darth Blader? Wichita has named its winter snow plows and you can track their progress
The weather may not feel like winter quite yet, but the first snow of the season could come sooner than you think. In preparation for slushy streets, the city of Wichita held a news conference Monday to discuss its plan for inclement winter weather and highlight some changes for the coming season. When the city experiences inclement weather that requires snow plows, it prioritizes the first 1,500 emergency routes and emergency facilities, major arteries, hospitals and schools. Wichita has 148 hired snow plow drivers to respond to roadway conditions, officials said. The city does not maintain state highways, like Kellogg and Interstate 135. It also doesn’t plow residential streets, and the city does not maintain a means for residents to request plow services. … community members can track where the snow plows are working at wichita.gov/snowremoval.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
KwiKom cuts ribbon for $1 million fiber internet project in Paola
A recent ribbon-cutting event marked the completion of KwiKom Communications’ installation of 23 miles of new fiber optic infrastructure that will offer high-speed internet to residents and businesses in northern Paola. The project was made possible by a grant that KwiKom and the city of Paola received in May of 2022 from the Kansas Office of Broadband Development Acceleration Grant program. The 50-50 state grant allowed for up to a 50 percent co-investment of the matching funding, and KwiKom asked the city of Paola for a co-investment commitment of $250,000, which is 25 percent of the project’s nearly $1 million total. KwiKom’s plan was to deliver scalable, 10 gigabit capable fiber to more than 500 homes and businesses within the northern city limits north of Baptiste Drive and around Lake Miola, and the Oct. 30 ribbon-cutting marked the completion of that task. The ribbon-cutting took place in Paola’s Industrial Park, which is where discussions first began about the project.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
Louisburg in the running for $50,000 grant for dog park
Louisburg is one of 25 finalists for the PetSafe Unleashed Contest that offers a $50,000 grant to the winning community to build a dog park. Local residents can help Louisburg win the grant by voting online through the PetSafe Unleashed Contest website at petsafeunleashed.petsafe.com. The community that receives the most votes between now and Nov. 30 will be awarded the $50,000 grant, according to a news release. People can vote once per day. Louisburg entered the PetSafe Unleashed Contest as part of a community project led by a group of residents who formed Friends of Louisburg Dog Park, which has a goal of establishing an off-leash dog park for Louisburg and surrounding areas. Louisburg residents Jessica Crozier and Michelle Olson have been spearheading the effort for about 15 months. The group has worked hand-in-hand with the city of Louisburg to align on the need for a dog park, secure a location, and work through the details for constructing the park. The organizers have presented multiple times to the Louisburg City Council, Park and Tree Board, and Planning Commission.
Source: Local News | republic-online.com
What nickname do you use for Topeka?
Topeka has more than a few nicknames in the local lingo, depending on who you ask. Kansas’ capital has gone by several names over the years. Some exist as playful renditions of the city’s name while others pay homage to the history of the Sunflower State’s capital. The color of gold has long been a staple symbol of Topeka going back many years. It can most commonly be seen on the city’s seal and flags. But where does this come from? The phrase, “The Golden City,” was established by early settlers of the area due to the beauty of the city’s sunlit rolling hills and autumn, according to Visit Topeka’s website. One of the earliest references to Topeka as “The Golden City” comes from a book written in 1890 by Mary E. Jackson called “Pen and Camera Sketches.” Appearing in many local businesses like TopCity Comedy, TopCITY Golf, Top City Athletics and more, this nickname has caught some traction in Topeka. Visit Topeka encourages locals to use #TopCity on photos posted to social media. Seeing less use than other nicknames, this has seen a recent revival through the annual Get Down in T-Town event which celebrates the diversity of the community.
Source: KSNT 27 News
McPherson school bond vote fails
McPherson residents voted against an $88.5 million bond that would have gone to improve schools. The vote was 1,843 yes and 2,149 no. The $88.5 million bond would have created a new academic building at the high school, replacing the old structure from the 1960s. It would have connected to an updated fine arts section. The bond would have provided HVAC updates to every school in the district. McPherson County Clerk Hollie Melroy said they replaced their central counting machine Monday night to make sure they were ready to count ballots for the school bond. Melroy said it was working Tuesday morning, but it quit working before 9 p.m., and they could not finish the count until a new machine arrived.
Source: KSN-TV
Grant Co. will not get a new jail, two ballot issues fail
Two issues on the ballot in Grant County revolved around a new jail. The current facility was built in 1972. Grant County Commissioners wanted to pass a $15,500,000 bond project to replace the jail. That issue failed, with 64% of voters saying “no.” The other issue would have created a 1% citywide retailers sales tax to pay for the facility. That issue also failed by 64%. District 3 Commissioner Mark McGaughey believes voters did not understand why a new jail is needed. “A lot of people didn’t attend our Q/A sessions that we had in the community. We wish more people would have came and asked some questions,” said McGaughey.
Source: KSN-TV
America’s first female mayor came from a tiny town in Kansas. And she got the job by accident
These days, it’s common to see women on the ballot for school boards, city council and mayoral races in Kansas. The state’s top official, Gov. Laura Kelly, is in the middle of her second term. But women running for office — heck, even women voting — is only a little more than 100 years old in most of the country. Except in Kansas. There, women were allowed to vote in school board elections in 1861. By 1887, women could vote in Kansas in a municipal election. And by 1912, women had full suffrage — a full eight years before the passage of the 19th Amendment. “Kansas was ahead of most other states but it took a long time to get to the ultimate goal. Kansans, some Kansans, were struggling for a better place from the beginning,” says historian Virgil Dean, retired editor of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains. Dean traces suffrage efforts back to 1859, when there was an unsuccessful move to grant women and African Americans full suffrage at the Wyandotte constitutional convention. Not only was Kansas ahead of the curve in terms of granting the right to vote, it also beat the rest of the country to elect a woman to office. That honor falls to Susanna Madora Salter of Argonia, Kansas, who, on April 4, 1887, became the first woman ever elected mayor in America.
Source: KCUR News
For years, wind was the power source of the plains. Now, Kansas is seeing solar step up
The city of Pratt, Kansas, is home to around 6,500 people. But the small town is rife with new developments. Driving around town, vice mayor Doug Meyer and Jamie Huber – Pratt’s director of electric utilities – point them out: a new swimming pool, recently resurfaced tennis courts, a 16-unit housing project. One of their proudest projects, though, is a six megawatt solar farm that came online in 2019. It’s right on the edge of town. “A lot of people don’t see it – I’ve got people who still ask me where it’s at,” Huber said. Over the past decade, renewable power on the Kansas prairie typically meant one thing – wind turbines. But now, solar energy in Kansas is booming, with developers proposing utility-scale solar farms from Sedgwick County to Great Bend to Johnson County. The city of Pratt operates its own electric utility. That means it generates, buys and sells its own power instead of relying entirely on the grid. In 2016, Pratt officials decided it wanted a solar farm to replace an expiring contract with a coal plant. Solar was a reliable energy source during high-demand times of day. And its price stayed steady, unlike electricity from the grid.
Source: KCUR News
Pottawatomie County voters again say no to road and bridge sales tax question
For the second straight year, Pottawatomie County voters have turned down a quarter percent sales tax to fund road and bridge improvements. The measure failed on a 56 to 44 percent margin (2,547 voting no, 2,032 voting yes), a year after it also failed by a 53 to 47 percent margin. County officials previously noted that such a tax would’ve generated approximately $2 million annually for about a dozen infrastructure projects. They had hoped to pay for the needed upgrades through the sales tax rather than utilizing property taxes. Most of the projects earmarked were in the Green Valley area and along and near the US 24 corridor.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Great Bend amends short-term rental rules
Following complaints from local Airbnb owners, the Great Bend City Council Monday night approved an ordinance amending short-term rental regulations, that cover such businesses, that it had OKed in June. At the Oct. 16 council meeting, Terri Bahr, who operates a number of Airbnbs in Great Bend and other communities, and Jarod Chansler, who runs an Airbnb in the downtown area, addressed the council with their concerns. “The existing short-term rental regulations were the culmination of considerable hard work on the part of the Assistant City Administrator Logan Burns, Building Inspector Matt Schafer, their staffs, and the Planning Commission,” said City Attorney Allen Glendenning. “Considerable research was done into the regulations in place in various cities in Kansas and neighboring states and that information was discussed and considered in multiple meetings of the Planning Commission.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune
Commerce Announces $2M in CDBG-COVID Resiliency Competitive Grants
The Kansas Department of Commerce today announced 15 Kansas communities would receive their share of $2 million from the Community Development Block Grant-COVID Resiliency (CDBG-CVR) competitive grant program. This program was funded via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. CDBG-CVR was designed to empower Kansas businesses to enhance their resiliency in the face of future community illnesses and public health emergencies. “These grants will be a game-changer for many Kansas businesses,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “This investment in pandemic resiliency not only will help retain jobs but help our state attract new businesses, further boosting our emerging economy.”
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Allen County OKs plan to accept plastic recyclables
The county’s first foray into recycling might look a little different than they expected. Allen County commissioners agreed Tuesday to allow a recycle and trash service provider from Erie set up a bin at the landfill to collect some types of No. 2 plastic items such as milk jugs. “It’s not cardboard, but it’s a start,” Mitch Garner, Public Works director, said. The county had identified cardboard as its top recycling need. Kenny Schettler, whose company collects trash for the City of Humboldt, offered to set up a container to collect only No. 2 plastic, a sturdier type of plastic that includes such things as juice and milk containers, bottles for cosmetics and household cleaners, plastic chairs and some types of toys. No. 2 plastics can be recycled up to 10 times.
Source: The Iola Register