Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

‘We got it done’: Kansas OKs gaming license for Golden Circle casino outside Wichita

The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission cleared the way Thursday for Phil Ruffin to open a casino in the Wichita area, granting the billionaire casino mogul and Wichita native a major victory in a nearly two decade battle to put gambling machines inside the Wichita Greyhound Park. The gaming commission on Thursday granted Ruffin’s Golden Circle casino the state’s only license to operate 1,000 historical horse racing machines. The HHR machines look and play like slot machines — which voters rejected in Sedgwick County by a narrow margin a few months before Ruffin decided to close the greyhound park — but outcomes are based on random past horse races instead of randomly generated numbers. “We are ecstatic with the news,” said Phil Ruffin Jr., who lives in Wichita and will be the general manager of Golden Circle when it opens. “We’ve been working to try to renovate and reopen Wichita Greyhound Park.” The greyhound park near 77th Street North and Hydraulic has been closed since 2007. Under Ruffin’s plan, he will spend $128 million to renovate it into a three-floor casino called Golden Circle.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Allen County: Finding workers comes with a cost

Most county departments are facing increased costs, primarily due to more pay to attract and retain personnel. … Chairman David Lee said most of the requests were due to wages and benefits. Department heads requested 5% wage increases. Commissioners may ask them to reduce that number to 3% or 4%. “We’re going to have to see how finances are looking and if we can support those requests,” Lee said. “The resounding theme from department heads is that the cost of doing business has gone up over the past two or three years.” Lee said his priority is to attract and retain employees, and that could mean taking a comparative look at wages in nearby counties. “We need to make sure our wages are competitive with counties, cities and industries around us,” he said.
Source: The Iola Register

Economist says there’s no need for the Fed to keep hiking interest rates

Nobel Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides believes there’s no need for the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates in the coming months, saying policymakers at the U.S. central bank should instead look to take a breather in the battle against inflation. His comments come shortly after data on Wednesday showed U.S. inflation fell sharply to a two-year low of 3% in June. The reading appeared to underscore the Fed’s relative success in containing price rises following a rapid increase in interest rates. The Fed has previously signaled its intent on pushing ahead with additional monetary policy tightening. … The U.S. central bank held its key borrowing rate steady in a target range of 5% to 5.25% last month, but policymakers at the meeting indicated the likelihood of half a percentage point more of additional tightening before the end of 2023.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Municipal Bond Trends for July 13, 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.

Municipal Bond Trends for July 12, 2023

Ellinwood increases recycling commitment

As a show of support to local participating businesses, the City of Ellinwood agreed on Tuesday to pick up half the tab for future recycling services to the community. At Tuesday’s meeting of the Ellinwood City Council, Shelby Zuniga, executive director of Sunflower Diversified Services in Great Bend, told council members present that their organization had experienced increased costs over the past few years, resulting in the development of a direct-pay rate structure for participating businesses in the area. “We started to charge a fee in Great Bend in the middle of 2021,” Zuniga said. “We’ve had to increase the rates.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune

Planners to consider container homes

More than a year after Hillsboro developed a district north of 3rd St. for potential placement of container homes, city planners will have a July 27 hearing on an application to place the first container home in the district. Developer Felix Ramirez and then-partner Crystal Leatherman initially planned to install container homes on land purchased from developer Russell Groves. Reluctant to allow container homes to be installed without meeting city requirements, city planners and council members drew up an overlay for the proposed area. The overlay set standards not just for homes made from shipping containers, but for other alternative housing construction.
Source: HILLSBORO Star-Journal

Hugoton’s Park Day big success, winners announced

Hugoton celebrated Independence Day with Park Day Tuesday, July 4. Boy Scout Troop 189 presented the Colors and the Hugoton High School Show Choir sang the National Anthem. Winners with vouchers need to go to the Hugoton Area Chamber of Commerce to pick up your winnings. The winners in the Little Miss / Mr. Hugoton contest sponsored by Flatlanders Farm and Home were: birth to six months Little Miss first place Juliette Turner, second Thalia Ordonez and third Wrenley Maravilla; Little Mr. winner was Kord Luke Kallenbach.
Source: Hugoton Hermes News

Wyandotte nation looks to expand casino, hotel in Park City after court ruling

It’s Wednesday afternoon and dozen of people are testing their luck inside the Crosswinds casino in Park City. The small casino was opened by the Wyandotte nation back in 2021, and originally the building was only supposed to be a temporary site before the tribe launched a bigger operation. “You know our plans are to build a casino resort,” says Wyandotte nation Chief Billy Friend. “We have 10 and a half acres that has been taken in trust for gaming. and then we also have another 100, approximately 125 acres.” Those plans had been on hold while the state of Kansas was challenging a ruling from the US Department of the Interior back in 2020 that granted the tribe the ability to have gaming on part of its land.
Source: KAKE – News

Kansas plumbing company penalized more than $300K after trench collapse

An investigation into a Salina trench wall collapse determined Precision Plumbing LLC willfully violated federal trench safety regulations, resulting in proposed penalties of more than $300,000. In January 2023, a worker from Precision Plumbing, a Cheney plumbing company, was connecting a plumbing line to a Salina municipal sewer in a trench nine feet below the surface when he was buried due to a wall collapse, according to Monday’s U.S. Department of labor news release. The company foreman entered the trench to dig out the buried worker when the trench collapsed further, burying him to the knees.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Topeka metro cuts back on bus services, here’s why

Local transportation officials made several changes to existing bus routes in Topeka following a special meeting earlier this month. Keri Renner with the Topeka Metro said in a press release that on Friday, July 7 the Topeka Metro board of directors came together at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library to cast votes on proposed service changes. These changes will take effect starting Sept. 3, 2023. This meeting came after three other previous meetings on the same topic and after taking comments from the public.
Source: KSNT 27 News

USD 252 Southern Lyon County to fund portion of Olpe Fitness Park project

USD 252 Southern Lyon County will fund a portion of the Olpe Fitness Park project. Board members voted 4-3 to have the district contribute $600,000 to the project as a part of their board meeting Wednesday night in Hartford. The fitness park is a three-stage project, which will see the district distribute $200,000 immediately, $200,000 in July 2024, and the final $200,000 in July 2025. New USD 252 Superintendent Ryan Muhlig said the project is beneficial to the district. The district might be tight on funds, but community members are raising 70 percent of the funds.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio

‘Urban Cowboy’ nightclub with $128M Golden Circle casino pitched for old greyhound park

Billionaire casino mogul Phil Ruffin wants to build a massive nightclub that will be familiar to fans of the 1980 hit movie “Urban Cowboy,” a film that brought cowboy hats, line dancing, mechanical bulls and pearl-snap shirts to the mainstream. Gilley’s Dance Hall and Saloon, a replica of the popular Texas honky-tonk featured in “Urban Cowboy,” would open as early as fall 2024 as part of a $128 million Golden Circle casino redevelopment at the defunct Wichita Greyhound Park, which has been closed since 2007 after voters rejected a plan to allow slot machines at the track. Ruffin also would build a 110-room hotel near the casino and dance hall after renovations were completed. The plan hinges on a decision expected Thursday from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission. Ruffin is seeking approval for a license to operate 1,000 historical horse racing machines to make the rest of the project economically viable. Ruffin is the last remaining applicant after one dropped out and another was disqualified.
Source: Wichita Eagle

Businesses looking to move to Hutchinson

Although many in Hutchinson are not seeing the day-to-day progress, there are large investors looking at heading to the Salt City. The Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce is taking phone calls, giving tours and fixing prospective business leaders up with options. Several businesses are looking at locating in the Kansas Enterprise Industrial Park as well as the recently closed Sonoco Hutchinson Paper Mill, although the building has not come on the market yet.
Source: Hutch News

County’s jail housing costs on rise; Officials consider cutting costs by keeping inmates elsewhere

Housing a healthy inmate costs $100 a day at the Shawnee County Jail but about half that at the Anderson County Jail in Garnett, 75 miles southeast of Topeka, says Shawnee County Commissioner Kevin Cook. Speaking at a work session focusing on the budget of the county’s corrections department, Cook suggested Shawnee County try to save money by keeping some of its inmates in the Anderson County Jail. After learning later that the Anderson County Jail houses only 48 inmates and therefore might not be of much help, Cook said Shawnee County could still cut costs by keeping some inmates at other jails in northeast Kansas that might be willing to take them.
Source: CJonline

Inflation rose just 0.2% in June, less than expected as consumers get a break from price increases

Inflation fell to its lowest annual rate in more than two years during June, the product both of some deceleration in costs and easy comparisons against a time when price increases were running at a more than 40-year high. The consumer price index, which measures inflation, increased 3% from a year ago, which is the lowest level since March 2021. On a monthly basis, the index, which measures a broad swath of prices for goods and services, rose 0.2%. … Traders are still pricing in a strong possibility that the Fed will enact a quarter percentage point rate hike when it meets July 25-26. However, market pricing is pointing toward that being the last increase as officials pause to allow the series of hikes to work their way through the economy.
Source: CNBC

The bus stops here: Wichita cracks down on fights, underage drinking, nudity on party buses

The city of Wichita plans to start requiring licenses for party bus operators in an effort to curtail reckless passenger behavior that police say oftentimes crosses the line into criminality. “Underage drinking, fights, disorderly conduct, violent crimes that include shootings, and other unsafe behavior,” said Travis Rakestraw, special investigations captain with the Wichita Police Department. “By requiring a city of Wichita license for a party bus to operate, it will help control any businesses not willing or able to control its customers.” The City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to establish a new ordinance requiring entertainment vehicle operators to pay a $100 annual licensing fee and agree to a code of conduct for acceptable party bus behavior. Kansas already regulates commercial vehicles, requiring inspections and insurance, but there are no state-level regulations for onboard activity.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical recognizes service of pioneering firefighter

Lexie Engleman was one of the city’s first female firefighters, and now her name is on the training room at Station No. 1. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical (LDCFM) recently dedicated the training room to Engleman, who served the department nearly 30 years until she retired as a captain at age 60 in December 2010, according to a news release. Family, friends, other LDCFM retirees and current staff members joined Engleman to celebrate the recognition. A plaque with Engleman’s portrait will hang in the room. The plaque says that when Engleman joined the Lawrence Fire Department in June 1981, she became one of the first female firefighters in the city’s history.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Newton city manager submits resignation

Newton City Manager Kelly McElroy has announced she will leave her position in October after seven years of service to the Newton community. McElroy has been city manager since January 2020. She joined the Newton staff in October 2016, first as community development director, city planner and historic preservation officer, and later as assistant city manager. “It has been an honor and pleasure to work for the City of Newton and the community,” McElroy said. “I am very proud of our staff team that has strong ambition, creativity, and servant leader hearts. The leadership the City Commission has provided us over the past several years has been invaluable. We are fortunate to have such dedicated individuals serving, focusing on big picture endeavors, and leading the community into a rapid growth mode.” As city manager, McElroy led the City through the COVID-19 pandemic, construction of a new public pool, the new Railer Field at Centennial Park, a new Newton Public Library, remodel of the Law Enforcement Center, the City’s Sesquicentennial celebration, and a surge in new residential, commercial and industrial development in the community.
Source: City of Newton