Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Inflation poses biggest threat to IIJA rollout: U.S. DOT official

Six months into the roll out of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, inflation, coupled with chronically high cost of building U.S. transportation projects, is proving to be the biggest challenge. And the longer it takes to spend the money, the more cost pressures threaten to swallow the once-in-a-generation level of funding. “Externally our biggest headwind is the current economic environment,” said Katie Thomson, director of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Implementation at the U.S. Department of Transportation, speaking Wednesday during a webinar on the six-month anniversary of the IIJA hosted by the Eno Center on Transportation.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Fed’s Bowman backs raising rates 75 basis points in July

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she supports raising interest rates by 75 basis points again in July and following that with a few more half-point hikes. The hawkish remarks Thursday come roughly a week after the central bank delivered the largest rate increase since 1994. Fed officials are sending a strong signal that they will do what is needed to rein in soaring inflation, while acknowledging that it’s becoming more challenging for them to achieve a soft landing on the economy.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Emporia Municipal Band plays Thursday

The Emporia Municipal Band invites the community to travel the world with music this week. The band hits the stage at Fremont Park at 8 p.m. Thursday. The theme is “Travel Around the World with EMB.” The musical offerings include “The Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key and arranged by John Philip Sousa; the “Orpheus Overture,” “Russian Sailors’ Dance,” “Festivo,” “At the Dixieland Jazz Funeral” and much more. The Emporia Municipal Band is currently in its 80th season. All concerts are free and open to the public.
Source: Emporia Gazette

Muni yields fall on back of UST strength

Municipals outperformed (dropped in yield more than) moves in U.S. Treasuries Thursday, playing catch up to taxables’ massive flight-to-safety rally that hit Wednesday, while equities ended in the black. Municipal triple-A yield curves saw up to 10 basis point bumps on the long end while UST saw yields fall four to eight basis points.
Source: The Bond Buyer

Bentley residents cleaning up after storm

Bentley residents have been dealing with the aftermath of a severe storm Wednesday evening that hit the city with straight-line winds and golf-ball sized hail. Resident Doug Frazier spent several hours Thursday morning cleaning limbs up from his front yard on Devinshire Avenue. “I’ve got most of it down now,” he said. “I’ve got a few more limbs to trim off that [tree] there.” Two weeks ago, he’d cut down a large tree in his back yard, and he was thankful that was gone before the storm. “Otherwise I probably would have had more damage,” he said.
Source: Harvey County Now

Kansas schools are poised to ditch class hours for real-world training as graduation requirements

For more than a century, Kansas students have earned credits — and, after enough of them, a high school diploma — based on how much time they spend in a classroom. The age-old “Carnegie unit” approach to education became the academic law of the land way back in 1906. And it stuck: One credit equals about 120 instructional hours in one subject. Kansas requires students to pass at least 21 credits to graduate from high school. But a group in charge of evaluating the state’s graduation requirements says that classroom time makes for a poor yardstick for measuring learning. So it argues for ways to let local school districts sub in other metrics more calibrated to the 21st century.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Nickerson aims to revitalize the high school library

With encyclopedias from the 1960s and other literature students have not checked out in decades, the Nickerson High School Library aims to renovate the space into a student-focused location, including a coffee shop and a new “student union” feel. This summer, Nickerson High School staff plan to take the first step toward a new renovation of the library by removing old books and reorganizing shelves to create more space. From Thursday, June 23 to Saturday, June 25, Nikki Barton, a paraeducator at Nickerson High School, said she plans to give away about 5,000 old books from the library. “There are still some books stamped with Nickerson Rural High School, which date back to before my grandparents graduated there,” Barton said.
Source: Hutch News

Topeka sees rise in number of authorized fireworks vendors

Local residents hoping to paint the sky this Independence Day have an increased number of places at which to buy fireworks. Licenses to peddle pyrotechnics have been issued for 50 sites in Topeka and Shawnee County, up from 47 last year. Twenty-eight are in Topeka and 22 are outside the city limits … People outside Topeka city limits face a mish-mash of differing rules on when fireworks may be sold or discharged, depending on where they’re located.
Source: CJonline

Harvey County discusses wind farm possibility

Planning and Zoning Director Karen Rothe updated the Board of Harvey County Commissioners on Tuesday about Next Era Energy’s plans to develop wind energy in the county. Rothe said the planning commission met June 7 to look over the regulations for wind energy. She also said she was putting together a spreadsheet comparing Harvey’s land-use regulations to those of other counties. “We have really good regulations,” she said. “We are among the stricter regulations in the area.” Rothe noted that Brian Stucky of Goessel asked the planning commission to ban wind turbines altogether from the county. No action was taken. She said she also received a lot of requests, mainly from firefighters, to ban turbines from the Sand Hills. Next Era Energy already has expressed that it no longer had an interest in developing wind energy there.
Source: Harvey County Now

Hutchinson councilwoman wants to allow more backyard chickens

Just three months after the city updated its regulations on keeping animals on residential property, Hutchinson City Councilwoman Sarah Bagwell suggested Tuesday significantly loosening rules for backyard poultry. “I want an agenda item to have an ordinance change to let people have 12 chickens,” Bagwell said. “If they have more than 2 acres, up to 50 with a permit.” She also suggested allowing both layers and meat hens. The average lot size in the city is 6,000 square feet, Bagwell said, which limits flocks to three chickens. The code also prohibits the slaughtering or processing of chickens.
Source: Hutch News

Hutchinson approves new law enforcement contracts with the Reno County

The Hutchinson City Council Tuesday approved amendments to a few contracts it has with Reno County on shared costs of operating the Law Enforcement Center and E-911 Emergency Communications in response to disputes that surfaced last year. … The primary change in the Law Enforcement Center agreement is that the city’s share of the cost of operating the Reno County Correctional Facility will drop from 14% to 12%. That’s because the Reno County Sheriff’s Office is no longer transporting prisoners for municipal court or driving individuals to Larned State Hospital in city-related cases.
Source: Hutch News

Municipal Bond Trends for June 22, 2022

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 and Beth Warren.

Downtown Pittsburg may soon be on the National Registry

The City of Pittsburg is looking towards its past to potentially benefit its future. The city has received a $16,000 Historic Preservation Fund Grant through the National Park Service to help with an upcoming survey. It will focus on collecting information about the historic buildings on Broadway. City officials say this could help promote future development, tourism, and potentially help establish Downtown Pittsburg as a historic district to be put on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: KSNF/KODE

City of Pittsburg partners with PSU for economic analysis

The City of Pittsburg will continue to receive help from Pitt State when it comes to analyzing the local economy. The Kelce College of Business will be conducting an economic research project for the city. It’s something that’s been done in the past. The city commission approved $25,000 to fund the next project for one year. According to Deputy City Manager Jay Byers, the study will analyze the health of the Pittsburg economy including credit scores and the state of the middle class.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Powell tells Congress the Fed is ‘strongly committed’ on inflation, notes recession is a ‘possibility’

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told congressional lawmakers Wednesday that the central bank is determined to bringing down inflation and has the ability to make that happen. “At the Fed, we understand the hardship high inflation is causing. We are strongly committed to bringing inflation back down, and we are moving expeditiously to do so,” the Fed chief said in remarks for the Senate Banking Committee. “We have both the tools we need and the resolve it will take to restore price stability on behalf of American families and businesses.” Along with expressing resolve on inflation, Powell said economic conditions are generally favorable, with a strong labor market and persistently high demand.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Will High Inflation Erode the Potential Benefits of Government Infrastructure Spending?

As local and state governments, including transportation agencies, were already grappling with ongoing supply chain disruptions for their current infrastructure projects, the historic inflation will also likely serve as a significant blow to the overall progress, funding allocation, and timely completion of these projects. Given the complexity and longer time horizon of many of these capital programs, local and state governments generally allocate set funding with an inflation factor, including the infrastructure programs funding through the federal government. However, with the current inflation numbers, the public sector may be faced with the dilemma to either scale back on the scope of these projects or find alternative funding sources.
Source: Municipalbonds

City to take over management of Lenexa Cemetery

Since 1872, the Lenexa Cemetery Association has cared for the tract of land southeast of 87th Street Parkway and Pflumm Road, commonly known as the Lenexa Cemetery. The Lenexa City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding on June 21, 2022 to transfer property and assets of the Cemetery to the City at the end of this year. The Lenexa Cemetery sits adjacent to the St. John’s Catholic Cemetery, which is located immediately south of the site. The Lenexa Cemetery Association’s Board of Directors approached the City about taking over the operation of the 4.34 acre site. The non-profit association has an aging membership and raised concerns about their ability to sustain ongoing cemetery operations.
Source: City of Lenexa

Riley County enters HIGH incidence rate of COVID cases

Riley County has reached the High incidence rate with 76 new COVID cases. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recorded 76 new cases between Jun 11 – 17. The Incidence Rate is 102.4, putting the county in the HIGH incidence category with 100 or more cases per 100,000 people. Ascension Via Christi Hospital in Manhattan is currently caring for two COVID-19 positive patients. According to Wednesday’s report, Health Department Director Julie Gibbs says “while the number of cases is increasing in the state, the number of hospitalizations is remaining low.” She also continues to encourage everyone to get vaccinated if they are able to.
Source: 1350 KMAN

County could pay 160% more for fuel in 2023

If oil companies still keep fuel prices high in the coming months, Labette County is looking at paying 160% more for fuel in 2023, Labette County commissioners heard on Monday. Public Works Director Sandy Krider seeks bids on a fuel contract for the county each year. Many departments (including the sheriff, ambulance service, appraiser’s office, Public Works, Noxious Weeds vehicles, abandoned cemetery vehicles and mowers and the city of Altamont) use this unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel by pumping it out of the Public Works tanks in Altamont using an access card.
Source: Parsons Sun