Municipal News & Jobs

Kansas Municipal News

Sales tax for HCH moving forward

A special retailers’ sales tax to solely benefit Holton Community Hospital operations is moving forward after talks between HCH administrators and the Jackson County Commissioners. During a recent commission meeting, the commissioners agreed to formally ask Kansas House of Representative Francis Awerkamp of St. Marys to introduce a county-wide quarter percent sales tax during the current legislative session on behalf of the hospital. If passed during the legislative session, the quarter percent retailers’ sales tax would be placed on a ballot during the November general election for county voters to approve or reject.
Source: Holton Recorder

Gardner Edgerton schools to ask voters to approve $100M bond issue. What would it pay for?

The Gardner Edgerton School District officially kicked off its school bond campaign earlier this month. Voters who live within the school district’s boundaries will vote this spring on the proposed $100 million bond. If approved, the bond will bring in funding to pay for an early education center, a new district service center and a new elementary school south of Pioneer Ridge Middle School, among other proposed projects.
Source: Johnson County Post

Johnson and Wyandotte county homeless shelters filled over capacity during extreme cold

Persistent cold this month has meant more unhoused people in the Kansas City area have needed warm, safe places to spend the night. But neither Johnson or Wyandotte counties have enough beds, and consistently have to turn people away.
Source: KCUR

Goodland police have new tool to detect skimmers

The Goodland Police Department has a new tool to prevent credit and debit card fraud. The department applied for and was approved for a $470 grant from the Goodland Lions Club. The funds were used to purchase a Skim Scan device. Built by Berkley Varitronics Systems, the device can detect if card skimmers are installed on ATMs, gas pumps, and other devices that take credit and debit cards.
Source: KSN-TV

12 small Kansas communities receive SEED grants

12 small communities in Kansas are sharing $250,000 in grant funding from the Strategic Economic Expansion and Development (SEED) grant program. The grants fund programs focused on economic development and revitalization efforts to improve the quality of life in communities of 5,000 people or less.
Source: KSN-TV

Salina company to close, laying off 98 workers

A Salina company is closing and laying off almost 100 workers. Coperion K-Tron notified the mayor, the Kansas Department of Commerce, and KansasWorks that it is closing its manufacturing facility at 606 N. Front Street by the end of the year, and 98 people will lose their jobs. “This closure is expected to be permanent and will affect all employees, with the exception of approximately 50 roles, mostly in engineering and sales, which will be transitioned to remote work roles,” Mike Gregozeski, Coperion K-Tron Salina Inc., wrote.
Source: KSN-TV

Stafford County receiving $25 million for transload facility

Stafford County is receiving $25 million to build a transload facility in St. John. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Port Authority of Stafford County will use the grant to design and construct a transload facility, grain terminal, and industrial park next to the BNSF rail line in St. John. The location will allow for the shipment of grain, commodities, and other products to be shipped by truck or by rail.
Source: KSN-TV

Leaders to discuss how to resuscitate local economy in wake of report

According to a report earlier this year by the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, Manhattan under-performed in several metrics that indicate economic health. Manhattan posted 0% job growth, according to a 2024 report, which was well below that of the four peer cities the report used for comparison. For instance, Ames, Iowa, had 10.1% growth, and Columbia, Missouri was at 8.2%. Morgantown, West Virginia had 7.8% job growth for the same period, and Stillwater, Oklahoma, was at 7.7%. Manattan was near the bottom compared to the other middle-of-the-country college towns in other economic categories, as well.
Source: 1350 KMAN

Municipal Bond Trends for January 23, 2025

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.

Jackson County residents sue to stop 5,000-acre solar farm from moving forward

Four Jackson County residents … are claiming multiple federal agencies failed to provide an environmental impact report required by the National Environmental Policy Act for any “major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.”
Source: CJonline

Municipal Bond Trends for January 22, 2025

The first EV batteries will come out of De Soto’s massive Panasonic plant this spring

One of the largest economic development projects in Kansas history will start churning out lithium-ion batteries as soon as March, Panasonic announced on Friday. Executives from the Japanese tech giant gave updates on its 300-acre manufacturing facility in De Soto, alongside a suite of lawmakers who helped bring the project to Kansas.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Andover adopts new city logo

The City of Andover adopted a new city logo on Tuesday evening during the City Council meeting. The logo, which was created by Greteman Group based out of Wichita, simplified and modernized the old design while keeping key aspects.
Source: Andover American

Communication, honest transparency top traits focus groups desired in next Lawrence superintendent

Focus group members said they’d most like the new permanent Lawrence Public Schools superintendent to be effective in communication and honest with transparency, according to a search firm. Lawrence school board President Kelly Jones called a special meeting Tuesday to hear an update from the Kansas Association of School Boards. Board members voted 6-0 in November to approve a contract with KASB for an amount not to exceed $11,500 to assist with the ongoing superintendent search. Britton Hart, assistant executive director of KASB’s leadership services, on Tuesday shared with the board data from 16 focus groups of teachers and staff, principals and assistant principals, parents, and community members. A range of 3 to 24 people participated in each, held last week. There were 135 participants altogether.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Year begins busy for Arma FD

It is only three weeks into the new year, already becoming a busy time for the Arma Fire Department and Crawford County Fire District #2, carrying over from last year’s busy schedule. At Monday’s Arma City Council meeting, Fire Chief Mike McLeod spoke to councilmembers, offering statistics from last year into the new year. “We’ve had probably the busiest year we’ve ever had (in 2024),” he said. “From when I first got here, we are probably running 50 to 70 calls a year, we’re up to 726 calls. We already had 50 calls this month … We had 107 lift assists, that 107 lift assists are here in the city of Arma. That’s taking a truck from the fire station to somebody’s house to help them up, make sure they don’t need EMS.
Source: Morning Sun

Interest rates won’t fall as fast as expected if tariffs stoke inflation, UBS CEO says

An expected decline in interest rates could be stalled if the prospective tariffs of Donald Trump’s second White House administration bleed into markets and shore up inflation, UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti warned Tuesday. Markets have been on alert for the next trade steps of the newly inaugurated Trump, who has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, while also floating a separate set of retaliatory trade measures against China in a bid to pressure Beijing to force ByteDance’s sale of TikTok.
Source: CNBC – Bonds

Merriam becomes latest JoCo suburb to allow accessory dwelling units. What are they?

A new housing option is now allowable under the city of Merriam’s municipal code. The Merriam City Council last week voted 7-0 to approve an ordinance allowing accessory dwelling units, sometimes called mother-in-law suites, within city limits. Councilmember Reuben Cozmyer was absent. Other Johnson County cities like Olathe, Overland Park and Westwood already allow accessory dwelling units.
Source: Johnson County Post

City, county to vote on health funds for 29th & Grove caught in state bureaucratic struggle

As Kansas state lawmakers begin another legislative session, $2.5 million they allocated last year for health testing of communities impacted by groundwater contamination has yet to be touched. That may change next week, as the city of Wichita and Sedgwick County are set to take key votes. The county will vote Wednesday on whether to sign an agreement with the state that will release some of the dollars, while the city will vote Tuesday on whether to provide a portion of matching funds needed to make state money available.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

As more states adopt traffic enforcement cameras, here’s where Kansas stands

Technology is helping some states and cities crack down on dangerous driving. In particular, traffic cameras have spread throughout the nation. These are intended to ensure that drivers fully stop at red lights and maintain posted speed limits, which help motorists avoid major safety threats. About 340 communities throughout the United States have red light cameras, and 278 have speed cameras, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Wichita delays strict rules for operating golf carts on city streets, seeks public input

Wichita has paused a recently passed city ordinance regulating the use of golf carts in city limits. The ordinance received initial approval last week on a 4-3 vote and was slated to receive final approval Tuesday. As written, it would be the most restrictive regulations for golf carts in the state. It allowed for carts to be driven on city streets with posted speed limits of 30 mph or less, but restricted driving to 18 or older. It also prohibited golf carts from being driven in the city’s core area — downtown, Old Town and Delano — and from crossing arterial streets.
Source: Local News | Wichita Eagle

Wichita updates master plan for bicycles

The Wichita City Council has approved an update to the city’s Bicycle Master Plan. The update was prepared throughout 2024 and it’s a ten-year plan for infrastructure, policies and programs to provide for safe, comfortable and convenient. The city has added 70 miles of bikeways since the 2013 plan was adopted. The 2024 update calls for another 81 miles of bikeways over the next decade. The Bicycle Plan also looks to connect important destinations like parks, schools, recreation centers and retail areas. It will also look to connect Wichita’s pathway system with bike networks in neighboring communities like Derby and Andover.
Source: 101.3 KFDI

Kansas towns request $600M in first two years of water project grants

Kansas communities in the last two years have requested more than $600 million for water needs, stunning state officials as they work to allocate funds to a fraction of the projects. Dawn Buehler, chair of the Kansas Water Authority, told members of a Kansas House committee Tuesday that the state’s two new water grant programs, funded by the Legislature in 2023, have received almost 600 applications for funding in their first two fiscal years. For the fiscal year that ended in June, the state received requests totaling more than $380 million. But the state had just $18 million available. This year, the state has received requests totaling $227 million but has just $27 million to spend.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Grain Belt developers tell lawmakers how the transmission line will benefit Kansas

While it won’t drop off electricity to substations in Kansas, the Grain Belt Express transmission line will bring savings and improve reliability for residents, developers of the project said Thursday. Representatives from Invenergy, the Chicago-based company developing the Grain Belt Express, appeared before committees of the Kansas Senate and House to answer questions about the project, which is expected to carry renewable energy from southwest Kansas through Missouri and Illinois, ending at the Indiana border. Using high-voltage direct current technology, the 5,000-megawatt line will carry as much power as three traditional power line networks, Invenergy representatives said. It can also reverse its flow to provide power in the case of emergencies.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Halstead Planning and Zoning considers changes to battery storage regulations

After receiving feedback on proposed regulations, the Halstead Planning and Zoning Board reviewed a draft policy. This was the latest step in an ongoing process to create regulations for a potential battery energy storage system (BESS) in Halstead. The city received a request from Concurrent to build a battery storage facility in the industrial park, which Concurrent would then sell to a company who would utilize the facility. After spending over a year researching the concerns around a facility, the board published a draft of its proposed regulations for a battery storage facility. These regulations included requirements for noise limits, runoff prevention and fire suppression. It also requires a company to have plans in place for emergencies, like a fire or explosion, and decommissioning procedures for shutting down a facility. The regulations also require construction of the facility to be complete within 24 months of final site plan approval.
Source: Harvey County Now

Kansas City faces a new economic ‘border war’ as sports and stadium deals loom

More than five years ago, Kansas and Missouri declared a truce. The two states had for years engaged in a bloodletting competition to lure businesses to their side of the Kansas City region — handing out lucrative incentives to move a corporate headquarters just a few miles across the state line. These deals brought no new jobs to the region. They sacrificed millions in taxes that could have gone to hire more teachers, pave more roads or invest in public safety. They did nothing to improve the regional economy. It was, as many called it, a race to the bottom. Suddenly, that race came to a halt. In 2019, the governors in both states recognized the futility of these battles and agreed to stop the poaching. Since then, most economic development officials in the region say, the truce has worked.
Source: KCUR News

Pittsburg Police, Fire participate in Battle of the Badges

The Pittsburg Police Department and the Pittsburg Fire Department are going head-to-head during Battle of the Badges. The two agencies will team up with the American Red Cross for a blood drive and chili feed. Attendees will be able to vote on their favorite chili, while giving back and donating during the blood drive.
Source: KOAM News

Route set for 2025 Biking Across Kansas

The 2025 Biking Across Kansas route has been set. The annual ride is non-competitive and is for capable riders of all ages. It has been held each year along different routes across the state since 1975, except in 2020. This year, hundreds of bikers will travel across north Kansas from the Colorado to Missouri state line. The route will start on U.S. Highway 36 at the Colorado state line and utilize some county roads, portions of Kansas Highway 9, and U.S. Highway 24 before returning to U.S. Highway 36 for the rest of the route. Riders will travel 475 miles over eight days.
Source: KSNF/KODE

Kansas sheriff wants help designing new patch

The Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) is asking the community to use their creativity to help design the new sheriff’s office patch. The WCSO is asking residents to help design a patch to be worn by deputies to represent the county. The Sheriff’s Office said it should stand as a symbol of the 166-year history of the county. “We look so forward to seeing all the creativity and passion you may conjure & we shall proudly wear on our shoulders this new sewn symbol of that which already rests within our hearts that will be made, by you,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook.
Source: KSNT 27 News

City says freezing temperatures are putting pressure on pipe infrastructure

The City of Topeka is busy working on water main breaks following the sudden drop in temperature. City Infrastructure Communications Specialist Amanda Knowland said, since Friday, Jan. 17, city crews have responded to 38 calls for no water and emergency shut-offs for broken pipes. “Extreme weather is one of the highest contributors to water main breaks,” Knowland said. “Sudden drops in temperature freeze the ground, putting pressure on pipes.” Knowland said that in January city crews have repaired 36 water main breaks. She said city crews worked an “unusually high” number of breaks in January 2024 at 154 total.
Source: KSNT 27 News

Grinstead set to retire in July following six years as USD 284 Superintendent concluding 30 plus year career in education

USD 284 Chase County is searching for its next Superintendent. That’s because current Superintendent Glenna Grinstead is set to retire at the end of the current academic year following more than 30 years in education. Grinstead has led the district for the past six years following time as a teacher and principal at USD 452 Stanton County in Johnson City and USD 401 Chase-Raymond. Regarding her decision to retire, Grinstead says it was the “hardest decision” she has ever had to make, however, she felt the time was simply right.
Source: KVOE Emporia Radio

New administrator, counselor hired

Nemaha County has hired a new County Administrator and County Counselor following the resignations of Mike Miller and Brad Lippert. The previous board of the Nemaha County Commission, including Ben Glace, Jason Koch and Dylan Keim, approved the two hires during their regular commission meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The new Nemaha County Commission board includes Ben Glace, Jason Koch and Joseph Dalinghaus, effective Monday, Jan. 13.
Source: Sabetha Herald

Panasonic hiring as De Soto EV battery plant gets set to start production

With the first production of lithium batteries for electric vehicles expected in only a couple of months, federal, state and local officials on hand were in a celebratory mood. Some reminisced about the excitement of negotiating the tax incentives. Others looked forward to the economic boon and thousands of jobs the project is expected to create. De Soto Mayor Rick Walker remembered the “heavy sense of uncertainty” that overshadowed the site when the former Sunflower Army Ammunition plant stopped production and compared it to today.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post

How an Oklahoma City sales tax fuels the city’s ‘renaissance’

Oklahoma City’s claim to fame may be its stockyards and oil fields, but today it is also a growing city of over 700,000 residents and home to hundreds of high-tech aerospace and aviation firms. Fueling the city’s evolution is a one-cent sales tax established in 1993 that is dedicated to public facilities projects. David Holt was elected mayor of Oklahoma City in 2018 and in 2019 led the planning process for the fourth voter-approved renewal of the sales tax, which will provide a projected $1.1 billion over eight years to fund parks, senior and youth centers, public transit, sidewalks and bike lanes, among other projects.
Source: Smart Cities Dive – Latest News

Municipal Bond Trends for January 21, 2025

Municipal Bond Trends for January 17, 2025

Opening eyes to town’s highlights

An effort to remind the residents of Little Sweden, and maybe visitors, too, of some of the culture in the city is now underway. The second annual Lindsborg Cultural Crawl has begun and continues until Feb. 8, giving people the opportunity to not only visit seven nonprofit cultural organizations in the city but also a chance at winning some prizes.
Source: Salina Journal

Schrage talks about the legacy he leaves behind as he steps down as Salina city manager

After almost 20 years working for Salina, city manager Mike Schrage is leaving for the next step in his career in Missouri.
Source: Salina Journal

ICMA spotlight: City of Newton’s Daniela Rivas

Daniela Rivas recently participated in a global exchange with support from ICMA’s John Garvey Scholarship, which provides funding for young ICMA members to participate in global knowledge exchange through attendance at a local government management event in a country other than their home country.
Source: ICMA Spotlight

Municipal Bond Trends for January 16, 2025

Shawnee Mission cracks down on cell phones in school, following Johnson County trend

Shawnee Mission School District teachers and staff will have a new set of rules to enforce after the district’s school board voted 7-1 during its Jan. 13 meeting to approve a new cellphone policy. The new rules vary by grade level but generally prohibit most headphone use and require students’ phones to stay in their lockers throughout most, if not all, of the day. Several other Johnson County districts approved similar rules in the fall.
Source: Joco 913 News

Kansas governor proposes another $30M to address dwindling water supply

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly proposed creating a state natural resources office and spending another $30 million each year to address the state’s water crisis in her State of the State address Wednesday night. In her speech, Kelly, a Democrat, looked back over the first 25 years of the 21st century and said she sees “so many good things on the horizon” in the next 75 years. But she called the state’s dwindling water supply “seriously concerning.” “Without that water, the agricultural industry that fuels our economy and sustains our rural way of life cannot survive,” Kelly said. The Ogallala Aquifer, which provides water to the western third of the state, has been dwindling for decades. But despite warnings over the years that the Ogallala, the largest underground store of freshwater in the nation, was a finite resource, the state allowed crop irrigation to drain parts of the aquifer to crisis levels.
Source: Kansas Reflector

Emporia receives $450,000 for ‘Fix Emporia’ project

The City of Emporia has received $450,000 for the Fix Emporia program. The money comes from FHLBank Topeka’s 2024 Affordable Housing Program. The funds will be used to rehabilitate 30 owner-occupied homes in Emporia whose households fall under the 60% Area Median Income (AMI) limit. ESB Financial is also a contributing partner. Source: KSN-TV

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly presents new state budget to Republican-led House, Senate

The proposed state budget crafted by Gov. Laura Kelly features a 2.5% pay raise for state employees, expands Medicaid eligibility for 150,000 lower-income Kansans and fully finances K-12 public education. Kelly’s blueprint contained a $30 million surge in appropriations for water resource programs and called for appointment of a special task force to develop a 10-year plan for conserving the precious resource. She also proposed $10 million in matching grant funding to further spur expansion of child-care capacity statewide.
Source: The Lawrence Times

City’s snow crew was out 24 hours a day for six days after blizzard, official says

City crews plowed 42.24 million cubic feet of snow after last week’s historic snow storm, an official said Tuesday. Interim director of public works Wyatt Thompson said at the city commission meeting that officials figured if the snow was 16 inches deep, the snow they plowed between Jan. 4 and Jan. 9 could have filled City Park Pool 468 times. That amount of snow also could have filled 12,500 train cars or filled Bill Snyder Family Stadium 400 feet deep. Thompson said public works had 31 operations team members who were able to mobilize quickly.
Source: themercury.com