Kansas Municipal News
Atlanta firefighters to hold chicken and noodles dinner
The Atlanta Volunteer Fire Department and women’s auxiliary will hold its 20-something annual homemade chicken and noodle dinner with vegetables, salads and desserts March 25 at the Atlanta Community Building. The firefighters will begin serving at 5 p.m. … This is a fundraiser to benefit the fire department, and free donations will be appreciated with the money received going to various current and future projects.
Source: Cowley CourierTraveler
Goose reduction efforts working at Derby park
For several years, Derby has dealt with issues of invasive geese – particularly on the east side of town, near High Park and Rock River Rapids. According to an annual report from Director of Public Works Robert Mendoza, those remediation efforts are working, as evidenced by the decreasing numbers seen in the city’s annual goose roundup efforts in 2022. While McConnell Air Force Base used to assist Derby through its water fowl harassment program, the city now partners with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Fish and Wildlife Service to help manage the geese at high park through the latter’s capture program.
Source: Derby Informer | News
Reno County taking action after years of residents having high nitrate levels in water
Reno County is working to find a new water source for some residents after another test showed high nitrate levels in Rural Water District 101, the district that serves the Yoder area. Water collected early last week had a nitrate level of 10.5 mg/L, which exceeds the Kansas and federal (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 mg/L for public water supply systems. The County says nitrates have increased due to people using inorganic fertilizers and because of animal manure in agricultural areas.
Source: KSN-TV
These are the incentives Integra secured from Bel Aire, Sedgwick County
Local governments agreed last week to support the Wichita-based Integra Technologies and its plans to build a nearly $2-billion semiconductor facility in Bel Aire by passing a series of incentives, as well as pledging support necessary for the company to go after federal funding. It marks the “beginning of a very long partnership,” Integra president and CEO Brett Robinson said during a March 7 Bel Aire City Council meeting. Integra announced last month plans to build a 1 million square-foot production facility on a 100-acre site at the southeast corner of K-254 and Rock Road. The project is expected to create 2,500 jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector.
Source: Wichita Business Journal
Cities’ Credit Ratings Are at Risk Because There Aren’t Enough Accountants
Municipalities across the US are at risk of having their credit ratings downgraded or withdrawn by S&P Global Ratings because staffing shortages have delayed financial disclosure documents. S&P has placed 149 long-term, underlying and program ratings on a negative credit watch this year because the ratings company hasn’t received 2021 financial statements from the issuers. That’s the most since at least 2018, and materially higher than the prior five-year average of 95 such moves, according to S&P data. “If we don’t have the financials, then bondholders don’t have the financials,” Jaime Blansit, a rating associate at S&P, said in an interview. “We don’t want financial deterioration happening without our knowledge and updating our rating accordingly. Without financials we don’t know if the rating is accurate or not.”
Source: Bloomberg
Fed’s Tightening Plans Collide With SVB Fallout
The collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank give Federal Reserve policy makers two good reasons to hold off on raising rates when they meet next week. But the latest run of economic data can only serve to remind them why, until last week anyway, they planned to keep raising rates. Investors’ expectations for the Fed have been whipsawing this year. Early on there were hopes that cooler inflation would lead the Fed to raise its range on overnight rates by a final quarter point at its March meeting, and then go on hold. A monster January employment report and unexpectedly strong inflation reports changed that. Last Wednesday, on the back of some hawkish-sounding testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, interest-rate futures put the chances of a half-point increase at the March meeting, rather than a quarter-point one, at nearly 80%.
Source: WSJ.com: Markets
Banks got hammered by SVB’s collapse. But the Fed might still raise rates
A joint guarantee by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation wasn’t enough to stop the bank rout. Regional banks were hammered by the second- and third-largest bank collapses in U.S. history. … Despite the turmoil in the banks, markets and analysts expect the Fed to go through with rate hikes. If the Fed pauses, it would “invite markets and the public to assume that the Fed’s inflation fighting resolve is only in place up to the point when there is any bumpiness in financial markets or the real economy,” explained Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Kansas sales tax cut on food would cost local governments $180M. Here’s what might happen.
If a Kansas Senate plan to exempt food from state and local sales taxes becomes law, local governments could be facing a collective $180 million shortfall, leaving little option but to raise property taxes if the state doesn’t compensate them. Senators passed the bill last month knowing that local governments would lose what was then an unknown amount of revenue, but promised to follow up with a plan to make them whole. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, did so on Thursday, rolling out a plan that would put a one-time payment of $220 million into a fund that local governments could apply for, with some strings attached. … While sales tax revenue statistics are readily available, the data does not show how much of the money comes from food. In its own fiscal calculations, the Kansas Department of Revenue has assumed that 15% of the tax collections come from food sales, which officials said is based on KDOR and industry data as well as experiences in other states. Based on last year’s sales tax revenue of $1.2 billion to cities and counties, 15% would mean local governments would collectively lose about $180 million.
Source: CJonline
Municipal Bond Trends for March 13, 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.
Kansas marks 33 years since deadly F-5 ‘Hesston tornado’
On this day in 1990, a deadly F-5 tornado ripped through the town of Hesston in Harvey County. The twister was on the ground for nearly 50 miles and, at one point, merged with a sister tornado nearby. Two people were killed as a result of the storm. A 6-year-old boy huddled with his family near the town of Burrton died when a chimney collapsed into the home’s basement. In the Marion County town of Goessel, an elderly woman lost her life in the storm. Harvey County alone sustained more than $25 million in damages. More than 200 homes and 20 businesses were damaged or destroyed in Hesston. Dozens of people were injured in the tornado’s path.
Source: KAKE – News
Groundwater levels fall across western and south-central Kansas
Northwest Kansas GMD 4, which saw well-below-average precipitation in 2022, experienced a drop of 1.31 feet in 2022 groundwater levels after declines of 0.53 feet in 2021 and 0.70 feet in 2020. GMD 4 covers Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan and parts of Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Graham, Wallace, Logan and Gove counties. Groundwater there is pumped from the Ogallala aquifer and shallow alluvial sources associated with streams. Even the well-known Sheridan 6 Local Enhanced Management Area, the first area of its kind of organized, local groundwater conservation efforts, struggled this year with larger water-level declines.
Source: KAKE – News
How local leaders are addressing spike in property valuation
At the beginning of this week, the Sedgwick County Appraiser’s Office had three appeals. As of Wednesday afternoon, that number jumped to 98 appeals (with an anticipated total of more than 5,000 this year). “I have spoken with friends and neighbors and real estate clients that have had 15-20 percent or more tax evaluation increases in one year,” Realtor Toni Titus said. Titus says in her 22 years as a realtor, she’s never seen Sedgwick County property valuations increase by this much.
Source: KSN-TV
Wichita State’s Innovation Campus to add $75 million building to help combat gun crimes
A new $75 million building on Wichita State’s Innovation Campus will house a federal laboratory that will process shell casings to help law enforcement agencies across the country solve gun-related crimes. The building also will house the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The opening of the lab in the new building will create roughly 100 new jobs, Republican U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran said a news conference Monday.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Wichita Public Schools will pay up to $2.5 million for security upgrades at 11 schools
Eleven Wichita schools will be getting security upgrades for their front entryways. The Wichita school board has approved a contract with Hutton Construction to pay up to $2.5 million for the upgrades. Hutton will provide “construction work for secure entry, teacher locks, elevator access and intercom communications.” The scope of the work at each site and project timelines have not yet been established, district spokesperson Susan Arensman told The Eagle. The 11 sites are Allison, Curtis, Mayberry, Mead and Pleasant Valley middle schools, Beech, Gammon, Jackson, Linwood and Seltzer elementary schools and Levy Special Education Center, which serves students from K-12.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Proposal for second package of megadeal incentives in doubt
A proposal to expand a lucrative tax incentive for landing mega economic development projects similar to Panasonic and Integra is in serious doubt with the legislative session past its midpoint. If passage of a tax incentive package for Panasonic wasn’t difficult enough last session, it’s proving to be even more of an uphill fight to provide more incentives requested by the Commerce Department last month. “I can tell you a lot of people regret voting for it,” Republican state Rep. Sean Tarwater said of the incentives approved for Panasonic that were later used in the Integra deal.
Source: Sunflower State Journal
Options outlined for Ark City hospital with facility future on the line
More than 150 people gathered Monday at the Burford Theatre to learn about the financial problems facing the Arkansas City hospital and possible solutions. SCK Health, which operates the hospital and three clinics, is losing money and faces closing the hospital if its financial problems aren’t resolved. It is not alone. Seven Kansas hospitals have closed since 2010 and more than 50 are at risk of closing, according to information presented by the Kansas Hospital Association.
Source: The Arkansas City Traveler
City of Manhattan hires Aaron Stewart as next parks and rec director
The Manhattan city government has hired a new Parks and Recreation director. City manager Ron Fehr announced Friday that Aaron Stewart was hired to serve as the city’s next director of the Parks and Recreation department. Stewart will start in Manhattan on April 17. “I am truly honored to be selected as the director of parks and recreation for the City of Manhattan,” Stewart said in a statement Friday.
Source: themercury.com
Andover announces anniversary event to mark recovery from the 2022 tornado
The City of Andover has announced plans for a one-year anniversary event for the April 29th, 2022 tornado. The event will be called “One Year Later: Pray With Andover.” It will be a community prayer breakfast and it will be held at the Capitol Federal Amphitheater on Saturday, April 29th.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Train derails in McPherson, no injuries reported
A Union Pacific freight train derailed in McPherson Sunday morning, causing a small grass fire and leaking denatured alcohol. The derailment was reported around 9:30 a.m. near the 1200 block of South Main. There were no injuries. Denatured alcohol leaked from one car into a nearby stream that feeds into Wolf Creek. The leak was contained and there was no threat to the community. McPherson fire crews got the grass fire out quickly.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Overland Park begins removing ash trees along streets
The city is beginning a massive project to remove thousands of trees and plant new ones. Overland Park crews started the project Monday in a neighborhood near 83rd and Nall. City contractors plan to remove more than 2,400 ash trees along city streets in a dozen areas across the city over the next three months. While leaders say the targeted trees make up nearly 25% of all trees in Overland Park, they also say removing them has to be done. The city predicts the emerald ash borer will eventually kill the majority of the trees.
Source: fox4kc.com | FOX 4 – WDAF