Kansas Municipal News
Parsons police take initiative to strengthen community ties
The Parsons Police Department takes a new initiative toward improving relationships with the community. Police officers and members of the community attended the Police 2 Peace community forum held at the Parsons High School theater this evening. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, the national program aims to turn police officers into peace officers by bringing more conversations of empathy and understanding to real-life situations. The community got the chance to listen to speakers from Police 2 Peace as well as ask questions. Those questions included “Will the program help the youth” and “What can we do as a community to help further this program”. The community also got to fill out a survey about changes they want to see and how they feel about the program.
Source: KSNF/KODE
Andover library receives state arts funding
Kansas Lieutenant Governor David Toland recently announced that nearly $1.3 million was given out to 108 recipients in the latest round of the Kansas Arts Commission grant funding. Among those entities receiving grant funding in this cycle was the Andover Public Library, which got $6,393 through an Arts Everywhere grant. Arts Everywhere grants provide funding for programs, exhibition series or other arts and culture projects. The Andover library will be using the grant to help purchase drawing tablets, a new scanner and software, as well as traditional art equipment like easels, for all-ages art classes.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Park grand opening to be held in Andover
A grand opening ceremony is set to be held for Andover’s 13th Street Sports Park (1008 E. 13th St.) at 6 p.m. July 31, marking the end of an approximately year-long redevelopment process for the park that first opened in the 1980s. Elements of the first two phases to be unveiled include five new ball diamonds, a large destination playground, splash park, pickleball complex and more. The splash pad will start operations in conjunction with the grand opening. Phase three of redevelopment, to be completed in the next year or two, will include a new Andover Community Center building. The first 100 guests to the grand opening will receive a cooling towel. For more information on the park, visit www.andoverks.com/835/13th-Street-Sports-Park.
Source: Derby Informer | Area
Solar benches installed at some Wichita locations
Three solar benches have been installed at a Wichita park and two neighborhood resource centers. This is part of an initiative by the Wichita Public Library to expand wireless access to residents across the city. The benches were installed at Evergreen Park and the Atwater and Colvin neighborhood resource centers. They are equipped with free public Wi-Fi and charging ports powered by solar panels on top. Residents who need to connect to a device can use these benches. Last month, the Wichita Public Library, in partnership with the Wichita Public Library Foundation, received a $289,000 grant from the State of Kansas ADOPT Program to install nine more solar benches in low-income areas, leveraging the Library’s extensive digital reach. This is a response to a situation where thousands of households lack home internet.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Moundridge police report rescue of child trapped in pipe
Moundridge police have reported a rescue operation that got a 14-month old child out of an underground pipe. Police and rescue crews were called to a location around 2 p.m. Sunday when it was reported that a child was trapped in a 12-inch PVC pipe that was about 12 feet underground. The child was found to be upright at the bottom of the pipe. Moundridge officer Ronnie Wagner was credited with creating a “catch pole” using a smaller PVC pipe and rope, and that was used to lift the child out. The child was shaken but not hurt. The rescue operation took about 20 minutes. In a post on social media, the Police Department expressed thanks to Moundridge EMS and Fire crews that responded to the scene.
Source: 101.3 KFDI
Commerce Announces First Regional Water Project for Rural Kansas
The Kansas Department of Commerce announced today a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award for the first regional water project in over a decade. This project will provide improved water access to residents in Coffeyville and Caney. The total cost of the project is $7,894,325, with a $1 million grant from the CDBG program. Additional funding is being provided by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE). “This vital and groundbreaking partnership will significantly improve water infrastructure and ensure reliable access to clean water for residents in Caney and Coffeyville, exemplifying the tremendous value of regional collaboration,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “These efforts directly support the Kansas Water Plan’s goals of addressing water quantity and quality issues, investing in infrastructure and protecting our water sources for generations to come.” This regional water project represents a significant investment in the infrastructure of these communities, ensuring reliable and sustainable water resources long into the future.
Source: Kansas Department of Commerce
Cash Managers’ Interest Rate Quandary
Public cash managers today face a strategic dilemma: They can sit on money market funds, local government investment pools and ultra-short investments like repurchase agreements, all of them still yielding the highest interest rates available today. Or they can look out into 2025 and try to lock in some less spectacular but still healthy longer-term yields in anticipation of lower short-term rates next year, if and when the Federal Reserve cuts its overnight rates on the view that inflation has been tamed. The problem today is that markets have already begun to anticipate a lower-rate environment next year, and thus longer maturities currently carry lower yields. The “give up” trade is hard to explain to those who cannot see beyond their noses. There is more than just the egos of state and local treasurers at stake. Budget officials need accurate projections of interest income from operating funds, and some may even prod their treasurers to lock in rates now to prevent a sharp drop-off in interest income next year. Already, it looks like general fund interest income revenues in 2025 could be down 10 to 15 percent, and it may be even worse where cash reserves and federal grants are being spent this year. Meanwhile, debt managers need to decide when is the best time to sell municipal notes and bonds for both cash flow and capital improvements. With trillions of public-sector budget dollars invested in the money markets and interest income again representing a significant revenue line item, these are not Source: Governing
AWWA, RCAP launch partnership to help small, rural community water service
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) in July announced the renewal of their Cooperative Agreement, reaffirming their commitment to collaborate on improving water infrastructure and services for small and rural communities across the United States. This renewed agreement builds upon a long-standing partnership between the two organizations, leveraging their combined expertise and resources to address critical water challenges faced by rural communities. The partnership will focus on providing technical assistance, training and advocacy support to enhance water system management, promote community resilience, and ensure the protection of public health and the environment. “AWWA is pleased to continue our enduring collaboration with RCAP to support the needs of rural communities across the United States,” said Barb Martin, AWWA’s director of engineering and technical services. “We look forward to working together to address current challenges, while looking ahead to achieve a sustainable and resilient future for rural communities.” The collaboration will also involve knowledge sharing, joint research initiatives, and the development of educational resources to empower water professionals and community leaders. By working together, AWWA and RCAP aim to foster innovation, resilience and equitable solutions in the water sector.
Source: Water Finance & Management
Investors Embrace Bond Funds Before Rates Start to Fall
The stock market may be roaring, but 2024 has been Wall Street’s year of the bond fund. Bonds are paying the highest yields in a generation and interest rates are poised to come down. Meanwhile, a record number of retirees are looking to cut risk in their portfolios. That combination has investors pouring money into both indexed and actively managed funds. Wall Street is seeing dollar signs. U.S.-listed fixed-income exchange-traded funds have taken in nearly $150 billion through late July, a record through this point in a year. When looking at mutual funds and ETFs together, taxable bond funds were responsible for nearly 90% of net U.S. fund inflows in the first half, according to Morningstar. After more than a decade of paltry bond yields, and just two years removed from the worst year for bonds on record, the combination of high rates and falling inflation offers investors a rare opportunity for investment income. Rick Rieder, who oversees more than $2 trillion as BlackRock’s chief investment officer for fixed income, is calling the current period “the golden age of fixed income.” A crucial factor shifting bond prices is investors’ expectations for short-term interest rates. When the Federal Reserve began to raise rates in 2022, investors flocked to cash-like investments. Now, as Wall Street bets that rate cuts later this year are all but certain, investors are looking toward bonds instead, grabbing for yields that have already started to descend as bond prices rise. “We’re seeing people move out of cash and into bonds,” Rieder said. “Cash has been flipping a lot of yield, but now there’s a sense that the Fed is going to start lowering rates and that opportunity won’t be there anymore.”
Bond funds have been a bright spot for a money-management industry that has struggled to contend with the growth of passive investing and a steep fall in management fees. While investors have largely begun to shun actively managed stock funds, bond pickers are thriving.
Source: WSJ.com: World News
This week’s meeting of Fed officials will be one of the most consequential in a while, even if the central bankers aren’t likely to cut interest rates this time and instead look ahead to September.
While Federal Reserve officials aren’t likely to change interest rates in the coming week, their meeting will nonetheless be one of the most consequential in a while. At each of their four meetings this year, interest-rate cuts have been a question for later. This time, though, inflation and labor-market developments should allow officials to signal a cut is very possible at their next meeting, in September. As a result, the coming week’s meeting, which wraps up Wednesday, could resolve the trade-off Chair Jerome Powell has been weighing between the risks of cutting rates too soon and waiting too long, in favor of acting sooner.
Source: WSJ.com: World News
Municipal Bond Trends for July 29, 2024
The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. 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.
Could a sales tax in Sedgwick County reduce property taxes?
Voters in Sedgwick County could be asked next year to support a new sales tax that would fund arts, culture and recreation programming. … Funding those programs through a sales tax instead would allow the county to lower its property tax levy by between two and a half and three mills, likely starting in 2026 or 2027. Commissioners want to present voters with a ballot question about a sales tax no later than fall 2025.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle
Wichita police quietly tested gunshot-detection tech for 2 years. Now they’re ready to expand it.
The Wichita Police Department plans to purchase around 144 gunshot sensors it’s tested since February 2022, officials said during a town hall meeting in June. Other than a brief mention of it when police talked about failures of the previous gunshot system in February 2023, which was the first time city and elected officials learned police had been testing the technology for more than a year, it was the first time the department spoke publicly about testing the controversial technology. The gunshot technology being implemented in Wichita has been controversial in other cities, including lawsuits, concerns about police bias and voice detection, and the question of whether or not the system detects gunshots accurately. Chief Joseph Sullivan, who inherited the Flock Safety’s Raven gunshot sensors from his predecessor, blamed the lack of transparency on a “glitch in communication” by the previous administration. He said that the department would be more transparent in the future, including about testing products, adding that when the Raven gunshot sensors go live, there will be a dashboard for people to see alerts and outcomes. “We want you to see and we want to see, is it working, is it not working?” Sullivan said during the June 8 meeting.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Could a sales tax in Sedgwick County reduce property taxes?
Voters in Sedgwick County could be asked next year to support a new sales tax that would fund arts, culture and recreation programming. The Sedgwick County Zoo, Exploration Place science museum, the Kansas African American Museum and the county parks department are all set to take cuts in next year’s proposed county budget. Funding those programs through a sales tax instead would allow the county to lower its property tax levy by between two and a half and three mills, likely starting in 2026 or 2027. Commissioners want to present voters with a ballot question about a sales tax no later than fall 2025. Establishing an eighth of a cent sales tax for cultural arts and rec funding would generate around $18 million in revenue based on current sales tax data — roughly the same amount the county now spends annually on quality of life programming. “I would like to say we would never fund those things ever again through property taxes,” Commissioner Jim Howell said at a staff meeting earlier this week. “They would be forever funded through sales tax.” The county tax proposal comes as the state is reducing and then eliminating by Jan. 1 its sales tax on food bought at grocery stores. Meanwhile, a major tax cut compromise reached between Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican legislators in June did little to provide property tax relief, but lawmakers have vowed to take the issue up again next year. A county sales tax ballot proposal would likely have an ending date, giving voters an option in five years to renew the funding mechanism or revert back to using property taxes.
Source: Wichita Eagle
Rural Towns Are Aging, Cash-Strapped and in Desperate Need of Workers
The challenge of both finding and affording workers faces small governments scattered around the U.S., and often leaves those still there to pick up the slack. … Rural areas have long struggled to hang onto—or recruit—young residents launching their careers. Small-town officials say they face particular hurdles when it comes to offering competitive salaries to compete for workers.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Municipal Bond Trends for July 26, 2024
The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of AA rated bond trades reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA® system. 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.
Commerce Awards $380,000 for Rural Counties to Market ROZ Program
Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland today announced $380,000 has been awarded to 40 Kansas counties in the first round of Rural Opportunity Zone (ROZ) Local Marketing Grants. The funds are intended to help counties market the unique ROZ financial incentives available to new residents: Student loan repayment assistance and/or 100% state income tax credit. Counties that have annually contributed and supported the matching requirement of the program will receive between $5,000 and $15,000 to better support and promote their program. Funding will assist the counties and local partner organizations as they develop customized marketing strategies best suited for their community. “There is not a one-size-fits-all solution when effectively marketing what each unique Kansas community has to offer its residents,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “The ROZ marketing grant will provide support to showcase each community’s potential to be that perfect place for someone relocating to Kansas.”
Source: Kansas Commerce
‘Them vs. us’: Lawrence community members identify barriers between police and themselves
A diverse group of community members shared their perspectives on Lawrence police Saturday, voicing concerns ranging from how officers could show more compassion and preparedness in crises to making downtown feel safer. Several dozen community members gathered at Lawrence High School for a partnership workshop hosted by the Lawrence Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice. The two-part workshop aims to “improve trust and develop partnerships between police and community members. Participants split into six small groups to identify the positives and negatives of the LPD’s interactions with the community, ultimately narrowing it down to three “barriers.” A second session next weekend will focus on solutions. Facilitators wanted groups to be organized “homogeneously.” One included law enforcement and city employees, and another included members of civil rights advocacy organizations, for instance. Groups identified points ranging from positive and upbeat moments such as citywide celebrations to critical conversations about crisis control. At the end of the workshop, people in attendance voted on the top five most pressing issues by placing dot stickers on pages where each group listed the top barriers they identified. The No. 1 issue, community members voted, was “A sense of them vs. us.”
Source: Lawrence Times
Wichita police officers get new body cameras
The Wichita Police Department has been issuing new body cameras to all commissioned officers, and most officers have now received them. Police Captain Aaron Moses said officers will have a choice between a head-mounted and a body-mounted camera. He said the new cameras have a wider angle and a clearer picture along with better audio. There has been automatic activation of the camera when a taser is deployed, and Moses said the next steps will be to have automatic activation when the light bar is activated on a patrol car or when a firearm is pulled from its holster. Supervisors will be able to livestream video from officers in the field in certain situations. Moses said every commissioned officer will get a body-worn camera. After all field services employees have received cameras, the investigations employees will get cameras and eventually the police chief will get a camera as well.
Source: KFDI
Kansas Supreme Court clarifies land-use permit authority, settles Finney County dispute
The Kansas Supreme Court issued an opinion Friday that determined the Finney County Commission had authority to delegate decisions about land-use permits to a zoning appeals board as long the local actions didn’t conflict with state law. The opinion written by Justice Dan Biles was inspired by a dispute that emerged in 2021 when Huber Sand applied to the Finney County Board of Zoning Appeals for a conditional use permit to operate a sand and gravel quarry under regulations adopted by the county commission. More than 100 people submitted protest petitions in opposition to the development on 177 acres southeast of Pierceville. The zoning board approved on a 2-1 vote the permit for a quarry on land that was zoned agricultural. Finney County landowner Brian Price and American Warrior, a company with an oil and gas lease near the proposed quarry, filed a lawsuit. Finney County District Court sided with Huber Sand and the county commission, but American Warrior appealed to the Kansas Court of Appeals. That appellate court, on a 2-1 vote, reversed the district court. The Supreme Court unanimously decided the majority on the Court of Appeals got it wrong, and affirmed the original action by District Court Judge Wendell Wurst.
Source: KS Reflector