Kansas Municipal News
Should Netflix, Hulu be required to pay Kansas governments? Lawmakers want to weigh in
As a Kansas municipality takes on streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu, in court, lawmakers are considering a bill that would exempt the media giants from paying fees that cable companies are required to cough up. In Kansas, statute requires “competitive video service providers” and other utilities to pay up to 5% of their revenues in a given city to the local government. Because cable providers use infrastructure supported by local tax dollars, the logic is the payments are to help compensate local governments. Senate Bill 144 comes amid a lawsuit from Fort Scott, alleging that the now ubiquitous streaming services are short-changing Kansas municipalities by not paying those franchise fees.
Source: CJonline
Topeka hosts first of three meetings focused on water utility rates
The City of Topeka hosted its first of three meetings to discuss the possibility of increasing water utility rates. The city is considering increases to the water, wastewater, and stormwater utility rates by 2024 in an effort to keep up with rising costs and maintenance. Topeka’s City Manager Stephen Wade said the city’s utilities — like everything else — are simply growing more expensive…. “We are also looking at a couple of things targeted toward equity,” said Wade. “Specifically, we know that some of our residents have different sizes of water meters. When we look at — about 36,000 customers have water meters less than one inch. Those aren’t exclusively in our older neighborhoods, but we do know that a lot of our older neighborhoods have smaller water meters, and so when we look at that, we are going to institute a rate for water meters less than one inch. That again will have an impact of reducing rates in some of our older neighborhoods.”
Source: WIBW
Municipal Bond Trends for March 9, 2023
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, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.
Promise and challenges face mental health hospital slated for Wichita
It’s not entirely clear when or where it will be constructed, or exactly how big it will be. But a state mental health hospital is coming to Wichita. A $15 million infusion approved by the Kansas State Finance Council this past December will bring a state-run institution with at least 50 beds to add capacity and reduce the wait for services. The county plans to request another $25 million from COVID-19 relief funds recently made available by the state. A decision on that money should come by the end of March.
Source: KLC Journal
Amid housing crunch, KS lawmakers want to expand rural incentive program to big cities
Scattered across Wyandotte County are more than 12,000 vacant lots, a figure driven in part by past demolition, white flight and westward expansion of Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas lawmakers want to build homes on some of those lots again. The Kansas Senate passed a bill last week that would expand the state’s Rural Housing Incentive District program to cities with at least 60,000 residents, a group that includes Wichita, Kansas City, Kansas, and Overland Park, among others. The legislation, approved on a bipartisan 30-6 vote, would allow cities to issue bonds and divert future tax revenue to help pay for the development of up to 100 houses a year. The measure, Senate Bill 34, now heads to the Kansas House, where state Rep. Pam Curtis, a Kansas City Democrat, says housing needs in her urban district are just as great as in rural areas. Jobs paying between $60,000 and $80,000 a year are available in and near the county, she said, but there are not enough houses for those workers.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Lenexa bans community storm shelters in new neighborhoods
Lenexa will require new homes to have storm shelters attached, eliminating the use of community storm shelters going forward in traditional single-family home neighborhoods. Earlier this week, the Lenexa City Council unanimously adopted the code change. It applies only to single-family homes and duplexes. Community storm shelters will still be allowed in new apartment and townhome developments. The move was prompted by a new planned subdivision in the western part of the city, Stone Ridge North, which has been designed with nearly 500 housing units and seven community group shelters among them.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Prairie Village to put license plate readers and traffic cameras at 25+ intersections
Most of Prairie Village’s busiest intersections will soon have both license plate readers and traffic cameras watching them, in a new initiative funded with federal dollars. The Prairie Village Police Department worked with Kansas’s two U.S. senators, Republicans Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran, to apply to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services’s technology community project funding program. Prairie Village Police Chief Byron Roberson said his department asked for — and got — $638,000 to fully build out the city’s license plate reader and traffic camera system.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Municipal Bond Trends for March 8, 2023
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, Beth Warren and Henry Schmidt.
Officer receives medical treatment after dog bites
A Newton Police Officer was bitten twice attempting to remove a dog from another person’s yard. The incident happened in the 1200 Block of N. Madison around 1:35 p.m. Sunday, March 5. “There was a hole in the fence,” Powell said, saying the dog was described as a large rottweiler. “It got into the neighbor’s yard.” While the officer was trying to get the dog out of the yard, it bit him twice on the calf of his leg and the hand. The dog then ran back to its house. Powell said the officer was treated for his injuries.
Source: Harvey County Now
Barton County eying novel sales tax plan
When District 2 Barton County Commissioner Barb Esfeld floated an “outside-the-box” idea on lowering county property taxes at a meeting in Topeka Tuesday, mouths were agape as it soaked in for those present. The suggestion, first proposed by Barton County Administrator Matt Patzner, involves implementing a county-wide 1% sales tax solely dedicated to offsetting the strain on the mill levy. Sales taxes are paid by everyone who spends money in the county and many consider it a more fair tax. … cities and counties are governed by different “home rule” guidelines. These cover the extent to which these units of government are allowed to govern themselves. So, it is unclear if a county can implement such a sales tax, Esfeld said. There was interest among the committee members to change home rule mandates to accommodate it. “I am the biggest proponent of county home rule you will ever find,” said County Counselor Patrick Hoffman. “What you guys are really talking about is that the Legislature needs to let counties govern themselves more than they are.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune
Sedgwick County Commission approves agreement for semiconductor plant
Sedgwick County commissioners voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve an incentive agreement for a Kansas company that plans to build a new advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility. Integra Technologies recently announced plans to build a 1-million-square-foot plant near K-254 and Rock Road in Bel Aire. The company plans to invest close to $2 billion and it will apply for federal funding under the CHIPS Act to help with the project. The company is looking to create close to 2,000 new jobs and there is expected to be another 3,100 jobs for suppliers, construction and other services.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Kansas House agrees to raise legal smoking age to 21
The Kansas House passed legislation on March 2 to raise the legal age for tobacco products from 18 to 21. House Bill 2269 – which applies to the sale, purchase or possession of cigarette and tobacco products – would bring Kansas into compliance with federal law. The House granted initial approval after a brief debate, then declared an emergency in order to take immediate final action.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
A zoning success story
Barton County commissioners Wednesday morning hailed the resolution of Larry and Sheree Marshall’s conditional use permit and zoning requests to operate an auto salvage-towing business west of Great Bend as one of the county’s proudest moments from last year. “It was it was a tough year last year for all of us, everyone at the county level,” said Environmental Manager Judy Goreham of what was a long and emotional process. “And I really feel like this was a success story.” … “This was one of the resolutions where we had a laundry list of conditions,” she said. In all, there were nine he had to meet within 180 days, which he did. The last of these was the annual review to receive approval for another year. His annual application requirements will vary from year to year, she said. This year he had to provide copies of his licenses, salvage certificate and proof of bonding, and he has complied. Last Wednesday, Mark Cooper from her office drove by the property. “It was in tip-top shape. Everything about the requirements were good.”
Source: Great Bend Tribune
No deal: City of Lawrence, developers reach ‘mutual impasse’ on proposed site of Pallet Shelter Village
Plans for development of a site near 18th and Haskell for a temporary modular home village for people experiencing homelessness have come to a halt, a developer says. Tony Krsnich, one of the owners of the site at 800 Lynn St., said Wednesday that he was in discussions with the city, but “those discussions are now over.” “We look forward to continuing to work with with the City of Lawrence. (We) absolutely love Lawrence, and continue to stand behind all ranges of housing, affordable and market rate; historic preservation,” Krsnich said. “And we had a very positive end to these negotiations, and negotiations like this are always difficult. This had absolutely nothing to do with price or anything like that.”
Source: The Lawrence Times
A Kansas bill hopes to weed out bad cops by sharing job applications
Kansas police departments could soon have another tool to keep unqualified candidates away from law enforcement. A proposed bill would require agencies to share information used on a job application and, more importantly, share information on why a candidate was rejected. A candidate could be rejected from one law enforcement agency and continue to apply to other agencies without those agencies knowing why they were rejected. Law enforcement agencies can share application materials with other departments that show why they rejected a candidate, but they currently don’t have to.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Study concludes Johnson County workers need a raise
Staffing and labor costs are emerging as top challenges for the county commission as this year’s budget-writing season gets underway. In the past two weeks, commissioners have discussed problems connected to a shrinking labor supply and the cost of filling vacancies in the sheriff’s office as well as other county departments. Those challenges were underlined by a recent study commissioned by the county that concluded, in part, that county worker pay needs to increase by 6% on average in order for the county to stay competitive in a tightening labor market.
Source: Prairie Village Post
3 license plate readers will be put on Roe in Roeland Park
Roeland Park will soon have three license plate readers operating at two of the city’s busiest intersections along Roe Boulevard. The license plate readers are intended to serve as an investigative tool for law enforcement to identify license plates associated with reported crimes but not to catch speeders or drivers who run red lights, Police Chief John Morris said.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Brian Silcott selected as new Ottawa city manager
When Brian Silcott and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, were introduced last week at a meet-and-greet reception at the Bottle House, he admits it would have normally been a nerve-racking experience. But it was actually just the opposite. Silcott was one of four finalists interviewing to succeed longtime Ottawa City Manager Richard Nienstedt, who retires at the end of the month. It was their opportunity to make a good first impression on local residents who turned out to meet and pose questions to the candidates. “Usually when you have community meet-and-greets, there’s some social anxiety there just because you’re seeing so much, but both my wife, Mary Elizabeth, and I felt very welcome by the community as a whole,” he said. Silcott talked about his experience Monday afternoon after he was named as Ottawa’s new city manager during the Ottawa City Commission’s study session.
Source: Ottawa Herald
BlackRock says the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates to a peak of 6%
Rick Rieder, managing director and chief investment officer of fundamental fixed income for BlackRock Inc., speaks during the Institute of International Finance Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Oct. 11, 2013. The world’s largest asset manager sees the U.S. federal funds rate peaking at 6% after Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned interest rates are likely to head higher than the central bank previously expected. “We think there’s a reasonable chance that the Fed will have to bring the Fed Funds rate to 6%, and then keep it there for an extended period to slow the economy and get inflation down to near 2%,” BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income Rick Rieder wrote in response to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. The economy is more resilient than expected, Rieder said, pointing to the most recent jobs report and consumer price index reading. “This is partly due to the fact that today’s economy is no longer as interest-rate sensitive as that of past decades, and its resilience, while a virtue, does complicate matters for the Fed,” he wrote in the note.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
EPA edict has cities questioning piping
Get the lead out. That’s the edict from the Environmental Protection Agency that Newton and other cities find themselves working to comply with in relation to their water system. Newton recently sent out a survey to residents, asking for information on what the pipes in their homes are made out of, as the EPA requires. “If it was my home, I’d want it out,” City Engineer Suzanne Loomis said. “Lead can make you real sick.” … Residents have until Friday, March 31, to fill out the survey. Following, city staff must go to residents who have filled it out and inquire if people need help filling out the survey and plan to do so. She said it’s in the interest of both residents and the city to fill it out and turn it in. … She said if the city doesn’t have a high turn-in rate, it could invite additional scrutiny and rules to follow from the Kansas Department of Health and the EPA.
Source: Harvey County Now