Kansas Municipal News
Bike Across Kansas returns to Hutchinson for overnight stay after two-decade-plus absence
It has been 23 years since riders in the annual Biking Across Kansas had a scheduled stop in Hutchinson. … There will be some differences in this year’s BAK. During that 25th annual ride in June 1999, riders chose from three routes, so there were only 300 or so who stopped in Hutchinson overnight and stayed at the high school gym, recalled Bob Updegraff, owner of Harleys Bicycles on North Main Street.
Source: Hutch News
Municipal Bond Trends for February 17, 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.
Mester backs faster Fed rate-hike pace if needed to tame prices
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she supports raising interest rates next month and tightening policy at a faster pace if needed to curb inflation. “I believe it will be appropriate to move the funds rate up in March and follow with further increases in the coming months,” Mester said Thursday in prepared remarks for a virtual event hosted by the New York University Stern Center for Global Economy and Business. “If by mid-year, I assess that inflation is not going to moderate as expected, then I would support removing accommodation at a faster pace over the second half of the year.” During their January meeting, Fed officials concluded that they would start raising rates soon from near zero and were on alert for persistent inflation that would justify a faster pace of tightening, according to minutes of the Jan. 25-26 meeting released Wednesday. Chair Jerome Powell told reporters after the meeting that officials were leaning toward moving next month to quell the hottest inflation in 40 years.
Source: The Bond Buyer
Bullard says Fed may need to raise rates above 2% to curb prices
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said bringing down inflation may require the central bank to overshoot a neutral target interest rate, which he sees as about 2%. “If you wanted to put downward pressure on inflation, you’d actually have to get to neutral — go beyond neutral,” Bullard said at an event by hosted by Columbia University and SGH Macro Advisers in New York on Thursday. “And I think that’s a major concern of mine — we’re not really in a position to do that right now, but we have to get in a position to do that” in case inflation doesn’t moderate as expected, he said. Bullard repeated his view that Fed should raise interest rate by 100 basis points by July 1 and start balance-sheet run-off in the second quarter, in response to the fastest inflation in 40 years.
Source: The Bond Buyer
Riley County commission approves ambulance in nothern county
Riley County commissioners unanimously approved to add an ambulance to the northern part of the county. The commission gave EMS administration the go ahead to start the process for building a new ambulance station. This includes finding an architect, position requests, and determine where to put the station. “To me, it’s obvious that we need to put a station up there, we have ARPA money. It will basically just need a small house and an oversized garage. We have a chance to do that now,” says Commission Chair Greg McKinley. … “I’m always fiscally conservative, but I think this something beyond that. More of a basic health issue that people expect to have services for their health, or services the city and rest of the county have,” says Focke.
Source: 1350 KMAN
Johnson County to end school mask mandates, defer to districts to set COVID-19 rules
Johnson County ended its school mask mandate for its youngest students, effective Thursday, in favor of allowing individual school districts to set their own rules as COVID-19 cases continue to drop from last month’s record highs. Eliminating the countywide order does not necessarily mean that masks are optional for all students and staff immediately, however, as four of the county’s six public school districts still have measures in place that will reinstate temporary mask mandates should cases rise to certain thresholds at different campuses. “We’re not just kind of throwing our hands up in the air, there are some measures in place to keep us from going off the rails, so to speak,” County Commissioner Janee Hanzlick said. “This situation does not mean the pandemic is over, it doesn’t mean we’ll never have to revisit any measures or orders in the future.”
Source: Joco 913 News
Fed’s Bullard says inflation ‘could get out of control,’ so action is needed now
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard cautioned Thursday that without central bank action on interest rates, inflation could become an even more serious problem. “We’re at more risk now than we’ve been in a generation that this could get out of control,” he said during a panel talk at Columbia University. “One scenario would be now you get a new surprise that hits us that we can’t anticipate right now, but we would have even more inflation. That’s the kind of situation that we want to … make sure it doesn’t occur.” Bullard has made news lately with his calls for aggressive Fed action. He has advocated for a full percentage point of rate increases by July in an effort to stem price surges that are running at the fastest pace in 40 years. In his remarks Thursday, he repeated his assertion that the Fed should “front-load” rate hikes as way to get ahead of inflation running at a 7.5% pace over the past year.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
North Newton City Council agrees to purchase police canine
The North Newton Police Department is getting a canine, in the form of Odie, after the North Newton City Council voted 3-2 to obtain the dog. Voting against the decision were Councilmen Mark Jenkins and Dennis Campbell. Odie is 7-½ to 8 years old and will be paired with Officer Colt Pfautz, who is certified to work with a canine and has worked more than a year part-time with the North Newton Police Department and then was hired full time. Now, the police department will have a canine unit again. “It’s a positive we already have someone certified,” Mayor Ron Braun said. One citizen, Nathan Koontz, spoke out about the town getting another police dog during the citizen’s comments portion of the meeting, which happened before the council took a vote and discussed the matter themselves.
Source: Harvey County Now
March informational meetings planned in Wamego, St. Marys regarding solar farm draft regulations
Informational public meetings are scheduled in March surrounding the future of solar farms in Pottawatomie County. The county plans to host two come-and-go meetings where people can ask questions from county planning and zoning officials regarding proposed regulations regarding solar facilities. The meetings are a precursor to an anticipated formal public hearing this spring with the Planning Commission. Planning Commission and Planning and Development staff have been drafting regulations since last March for large-scale solar farms.
Source: 1350 KMAN
County Commissioners allocate $25,000 in ARPA funds to each city
Each city is eligible to receive up to $25,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds through the county following recent action taken by the Jackson County Commission. The commissioners agreed to allocate $25,000 in ARPA funding to each of the nine cities in the county. The county has received $1,279,156 in ARPA funding from the federal government, so far, and is expected to receive another $1,279,156 in July totaling $2,558,312. Previously, ARPA funds could only be spent on COVID-19 response, bonuses for essential workers and investing in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure, it was reported. A recent ruling was approved, however, that allow counties to use the funds more broadly.
Source: Holton Recorder
Overland Park officials worry city could lose millions in annual tax revenue with Walmart ‘dark store’ win
If the Kansas Supreme Court rules against Johnson County in its appeal of a lower court’s ruling on how to appraise Walmart stores’ properties, it likely won’t be a budget killer right away for Overland Park, said City Manager Bill Ebel. But he cautions that future structural changes that upset the balance of property tax, sales tax and user fees collections could be “concerning” in the long run. Ebel recently said that a “substantial portion” of the estimated $1.5 million the city might have to refund due to the ongoing Walmart case has already been set aside in a liability account, should the court rule in favor of the retail giant.
Source: Prairie Village Post
City of Overland Park sets five-year plan for public safety improvements
The city of Overland Park has set a five-year lineup for public safety capital improvements. At last week’s Public Safety Committee meeting, councilmembers reviewed the city’s projected costs for public safety improvements budgeted for 2023 through 2027. The committee approved the five-year projections for recommendation to the city council’s Committee of the Whole, which handles budgets and capital improvements. The five-year plan includes capital improvements — which typically encompass new facilities or fixes to existing ones — along with some maintenance repairs and recurring costs for the city’s Fire and Police departments.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Eliminating Kansas’ food sales tax may be pushed to 2024
Kansans may not see a total elimination of the state’s hefty food sales tax until 2024, under a new Senate proposal. The Senate Tax committee unanimously approved a bill with a long list of changes. One of those changes would set the date for the plan to go into effect to January 1, 2024. That’s about one year later than anticipated from some democrats, who expected the timeframe to be much sooner. Senator Ethan Corson, a democrat from Fairway, who sits on the committee, told Kansas Capitol Bureau on Wednesday that he’s hoping there will be room for negotiation once the bill moves to the floor. “Part of the conversation should this bill get to the floor will be about what the right implementation date is,” Corson said. “I would favor an implementation date of June of this year.”
Source: KSNT News
Chetopa hires extra assistance for snow removal
Ahead of the winter storms that dropped inches of snow in Labette County earlier this month, the Chetopa City Council on Feb. 1 gave approval to hire extra help for snow removal. The council approved a contract with Anthony Conard on an as needed basis to remove snow for the city at a rate of $80 per hour. The city will contact Conard if it needs help with snow removal when weather warrants it. The city council also agreed to pay city employees a maximum of up to five days for work-related exposure or a positive COVID-19 test.
Source: Parsons Sun
Study: America’s economy has seen talent ‘shift’ to heartland over the last decade
America’s economy has seen a “shift” in workforce talent from coastal cities to the country’s heartland over the last decade, according to a new study. The study, conducted by Heartland Forward, a think tank with a focus on economic renewal, analyzed more than 350 metropolitan areas across the country and measured each metro area’s workforce by two metrics: educational attainment and the number of workers in creative occupations. Heartland’s study found a marked shift in talent between 2010 and 2019 away from traditional talent hubs such as New York City and San Francisco toward states such as Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas.
Source: Parsons Sun
KwiKom wants to bring broadband to Paola
Faster and more reliable internet for residents and businesses in northern Paola soon could be available if the city and KwiKom Communications are able to obtain a state grant. Paola City Council members received an update on the plan during their Feb. 8 meeting. Acting Interim City Manager Randi Shannon said KwiKom Communications has identified Paola as an ideal community for the Kansas Office of Broadband Development Acceleration Grant. The 50-50 state grant also allows for up to a 50 percent co-investment of the matching funding. Therefore, KwiKom asked the city of Paola for a co-investment commitment of $250,000, which is 25 percent of the project’s $1 million total.
Source: The Miami County Republic
Merriam moves ahead with plan to redesign key downtown corridor
The city of Merriam approved a nearly $450,000 design contract with BHC Engineering for work along Merriam Drive in downtown, from Johnson Drive to 55th Street. … The design scope includes the portion of Merriam Drive from Johnson Drive to 55th Street, which runs directly through the city’s downtown area. While this is simply the design contract, the final project when completed aims to bring new curb and gutters, sidewalks, pavement and bike lanes to that stretch.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
Municipal Bond Trends for February 16, 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.
A few Kansas jails are finally allowing medical care for opioid addiction
A recent decision to let people continue treatment for drug addiction while in the Sedgwick County Jail in Wichita reflects a significant shift in thinking at Kansas sheriffs’ offices that is gaining momentum. Sedgwick officials no longer take people off of their prescriptions for medications such as buprenorphine when booked into jail. No one keeps a tally of how many Kansas jails allow incarcerated people with opioid or alcohol addictions to receive the combination of medication and counseling that can help them. But nationally, only a fraction of jails do so, researchers say. Sedgwick’s joins at least a few other Kansas jails that do so, including Crawford County’s in southeast Kansas.
Source: KCUR News
Minutes show Fed ready to raise rates, shrink balance sheet soon
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released the minutes from its Jan. 25-26 meeting. Following the meeting, the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee said it would not raise interest rates yet but strongly indicated a hike is on the way as soon as March. In addition, the committee set out procedures for how it will start unwinding its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet, which consists largely of bonds it has purchased in an effort to drive down rates and stimulate growth. Since the meeting, fresh inflation readings have shown prices rising at the fastest pace in 40 years. The Fed targets inflation to average around 2%, and officials have conceded that policy needs to get tighter to bring prices down.
Source: CNBC – Bonds