Kansas Municipal News
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
Police chief, city manager address report on WPD’s ‘unhealthy and at times toxic’ culture
In 123 pages, a report from the consulting firm Jensen Hughes lays out several problems with the culture and operations inside the Wichita police department. Chief Joseph Sullivan says a lot of what he read in the “well-written and well-researched report actually confirms my own personal assessment of various facets of the department in my short time here in Wichita.” Monday morning, Sullivan, city leadership, and representatives from Jensen Hughes held a news conference reviewing the report’s findings. Several sections laid out issues within WPD, from toxic culture to issues with favoritism in promotions or uneven punishments for officers.
Source: KAKE – News
Want liquor or beer delivered to your front door? This Kansas bill could make it happen
Want a bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer on your doorstep, next to Amazon packages or your grocery order? This scenario could potentially soon be a reality in Kansas. Lawmakers are weighing whether to allow grocery stores, restaurants and liquor stores to deliver beer, wine and spirits to a person, either on their own or via a third-party delivery service, such as DoorDash or Uber Eats. Such a move would follow in a string of efforts to modernize the state’s liquor laws, such as a COVID-19 pandemic-era move to allow to-go drink sales and expand the sale of liquor on Sundays. Over half of all states currently allow for the delivery of booze, with many of them making COVID-19 era restrictions permanent in the past two years. But following suit would be a major change for Kansas, a state that had one of the most restrictive liquor laws in the country until fairly recently.
Source: CJonline
Traders Bet on No More Fed Hikes, US Two-Year Yields Plunge
Treasury bonds surged, pushing key two-year yields to their lowest level this year, as investors bet the collapse of three US lenders will compel policymakers to halt interest-rate increases. Swaps now show a less than one-in-two chance that the Federal Reserve will implement another quarter-point hike this cycle. Yields on two-year Treasury notes — the most sensitive to changes in policy — fell as much as 60 basis points to less than 3.99%, the lowest since October.
Source: Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs no longer expects the Fed to hike rates in March, cites stress on banking system
Goldman Sachs no longer sees a case for the Federal Reserve to deliver a rate hike at its meeting next week, citing “recent stress” in the financial sector. Earlier Sunday, U.S. regulators announced measures to stem contagion fears following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Regulators also closed Signature Bank, citing systemic risk. “In light of the stress in the banking system, we no longer expect the FOMC to deliver a rate hike at its next meeting on March 22,” Goldman economist Jan Hatzius said in a Sunday note. The firm had previously expected the Federal Reserve to hike rates by 25 basis points. Last month, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee boosted the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to a target range of 4.5% to 4.75%, the highest since October 2007. … Goldman Sachs added that they still expect to see 25 basis point hikes in May, June and July, reiterating their terminal rate expectation of 5.25% to 5.5%.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
Investors rush into bonds, gold in flight to safety after SVB rescue
Investors flocked to safe-haven assets such as Treasurys and gold on Monday amid an extraordinary plan to backstop the banking system and limit the impact from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell nearly 20 basis points to 3.50%, touching the lowest level since Feb.3. The 10-year rate last traded around 3.54%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury tumbled more than 40 basis points to 4.16%, also the lowest in over five weeks. Yields move inversely to prices and one basis point equals 0.01%. The iShares 20+ Treasury Bond ETF jumped 1.6%…. Investors sought safety as banking regulators rushed to backstop depositors with money at Silicon Valley Bank and now-shattered Signature Bank, seeking to ease systemic contagion fears. Depositors at both failed institutions will have full access to their deposits as part of multiple moves that officials approved over the weekend.
Source: CNBC
Municipal Bond Trends for March 10, 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.
City of Admire receives funding for multiuse court
The City of Admire is planning to build a pickleball, basketball and tennis court, thanks to $30,000 in funding from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas as part of Healthier Lyon County’s Pathways to a Healthy Kansas grant. The City of Admire worked with the Healthier Lyon County Coalition to assess the active infrastructure environment at the Admire City Park including tobacco-free grounds policies, making the City eligible for implementation funding. The City of Admire has been prioritizing community health by working hard to make improvements to the city park, most recently adding a disc golf course. The City park also connects to the Flint Hills Nature Trail State Park, a popular trail for cyclists.
Source: Emporia Gazette
Wichita Public Schools chooses its next superintendent from within district ranks
Kansas’ largest school district has named its next superintendent. At a Friday special meeting, the Wichita school board chose Kelly Bielefeld to replace Alicia Thompson in July. Bielefeld, who has been the district’s executive director of college and career readiness since 2020, has also served in teacher, principal and assistant superintendent roles in the Clearwater, Derby, Renwick and Goddard districts. “Since coming to Wichita Public Schools in 2020, he has supported secondary schools with visionary college- and career-ready leadership, written and administered federal grants and created our future-ready center in cooperation with WSU Tech,” board President Sheril Logan said.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle