Municipal News & Jobs

The Kansas House on Friday passed with bipartisan support a bill giving taxpayers a new weapon to fight city and county spending while offering local governments a financial incentive not to raise property taxes. The House voted 115-6 to pass a bill that would essentially recreate a fund that once was intended to help local governments hold down property taxes but empowers taxpayers to fight excessive spending. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Source: Sunflower State Journal

Riley County officials unanimously approved a written testimony in support of the Home Rule Amendment to the Kansas Constitution at Thursday’s meeting. Constitutional home rule has been a legislative priority for Riley County, but it has stalled in the past because of a misunderstanding of what home rule is. County home rule is when a county can govern itself without direct oversight from the state. It means more local control over local issues. This letter addresses misconceptions about what county home rule is.
Source: themercury.com – RSS Results in news of type article

Children and teenagers riding e-scooters and e-bikes in Prairie Village could soon need to start wearing helmets. During its council committee meeting last week, the Prairie Village City Council agreed to formally consider an ordinance requiring people aged 17 and younger to wear helmets while riding e-scooters. The city council amended the drafted ordinance to include e-bikes. Police Chief Eric McCullough told the city council that e-scooter safety has become top of mind, with groups of children and adolescents frequently seen riding the devices around busy areas like Corinth Square and The Shops retail complex, oftentimes while not wearing helmets.
Source: Johnson County Post

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.

Inflation could prove sticky while prices might pick up again, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler warned, signaling that the U.S. central bank should keep interest rates steady for the time. “I’m actually quite concerned about some of the persistence in inflation that we have been seeing,” she told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro during a fireside chat at the Conference on Monetary Policy Transmission and the Labor Market on Friday. She pointed to a recent acceleration of inflation expectations, which she said she watches closely for their effect on how businesses set prices and how workers negotiate wages. This in turn means they could feed back into inflation.
Source: Bonds

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that the central bank can wait to see how President Donald Trump’s aggressive policy actions play out before it moves again on interest rates. With markets nervous over Trump’s proposals for tariffs and other issues, Powell reiterated statements he and his colleagues have made recently counseling patience on monetary policy amid the high level of uncertainty. The White House “is in the process of implementing significant policy changes in four distinct areas: trade, immigration, fiscal policy, and regulation,” he said in a speech for the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum. “It is the net effect of these policy changes that will matter for the economy and for the path of monetary policy.”
Source: Finance

A federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of the Lawrence City Commission in a lawsuit that had alleged commissioners violated a frequent public commenter’s freedom of speech. Justin Spiehs, 43, formerly of Lawrence, has been a familiar sight protesting in public places and regularly speaking during local public meetings since mask mandates were put into place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a case filed in November 2023 in federal court, Stilwell attorney Linus Baker detailed incidents of Spiehs being interrupted and asked to leave city meetings by commissioners. The complaint indicated that Spiehs believed he was being targeted for his views.
Source: The Lawrence Times

This appeal concerns three such petitions which sought voter approval by the residents of Prairie Village. The parties argue both procedural and substantive aspects of the statutes and judicial procedure in this case.
Read the decision here.

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.

Våffeldagen, or Waffle Day, is a traditional celebration in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, typically around the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25. For Lindsborg, Våffeldagen falls on the Saturday closest to that day, this year being March 22.
Source: Salina Journal

Abilene is leading the pack in a USA Today poll of America’s Best Historic Small Towns. The hometown of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abilene is among 20 towns across the nation vying for the honor.
Source: Salina Journal

Visitors to Old Town will likely have to start paying for parking starting this summer. After the Wichita City Council established paid parking for most of downtown in December, several Old Town building owners had sought to install an extra 2% sales tax to pay for parking in the area instead of asking visitors to pay when they park. But the council declined Tuesday to set a public hearing to establish the tax district, triggering implementation of $1 an hour parking. Parking would be free for the first 15 minutes someone is parked in a spot.
Source: Wichita Kansas Local News, Crime & More |

Mulberry is the little town that refuses to quit. Once a popular rest stop for travelers along the Military Highway, the little burg has experienced some rough times. But the spirit of the town refuses to quit. Mulberry has always been a focal point for young athletes. Kids from the surrounding small towns, including Liberal, Missouri, still come to play on the city basketball court, recently refurbished with a grant from the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas (CFSEK). Mayor Pat Walden wants to capitalize on that momentum. Walden’s plan is to renovate the city’s baseball field at the City Park. Currently, the entire diamond is covered by grass, the lights do not work, the outfield fence is gone, restrooms need updating, and the bleachers need replacing.
Source: – Latest Stories

The City of Lawrence has launched a new searchable database of burial records for Oak Hill, Memorial Park and Maple Grove cemeteries. The website allows people to search and locate burial sites, including walking and driving instructions. It includes functions to upload photos and add more information about the people buried there. There have been more than 64,000 burials, dating back to the city’s founding, according to a news release from the city. More than 1,000 Potter’s Field burials at Oak Hill are now viewable and searchable for the first time, according to the city.
Source: The Lawrence Times

Newton Fire/EMS calls rose slightly in 2024, driven by an increase of grass fires. Calls for service increased from 4,303 in 2023 to 4,334 in 2024. “Probably the big highlight is our call volume stayed consistent,” Chief Steve Roberson said of a report recently released by Newton Fire/EMS. “We saw a slight increase but not near what we’d seen in years past.” EMS calls, which account for roughly 83 percent of service calls for fire/EMS, were down slightly on the year. Fire calls, however, increased by 80, he said. “Grass fires are way up,” Roberson said. “We’ll continue to see problems as long as the drought is an issue.”
Source: Harvey County Now

A normal 30-minute job turned into a three-day excavation search for Sedgwick Public Works last week on South Commercial. City maintenance was working on water service installs for the new houses north of the industrial park that Jimmy Sharbutt and his crew are building, but when they dug a hole to connect to the main line, they came up empty. Finally, the missing lines were located across the street from where they were expected. The problem wasn’t with public works but with the city’s map, something Nordick and Administrative Assistant Isaiah Chapman have been working on since last fall anyway. Last year, the city bought a GPS device, including a battery pack, stick, and iPad, to plot the city’s infrastructure and update its current maps.
Source: Harvey County Now

Kansas farmers are on alert, bracing for how tariffs against Mexico and Canada and retaliatory tariffs could affect their bottom line. Those working in agriculture are waiting to find out the full scope. Tariffs are coming in at an awkward time of year for growers. That’s because the fertilizer industry relies heavily on Canadian imports.
Source: KSN-TV

Kansas’ weather in the early 1990s was active, including large hailstorms and disastrous tornadoes. One of those tornadoes was the Hesston tornado in March 1990. Decades later, memories of that day are still fresh in the minds of meteorologists and storm researchers. An outbreak of tornadoes occurred early in the season 35 years ago. Ripping across Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri, and Texas.
Source: KSN-TV

Citing the rising price of eggs, Emporia is making it easier for residents to own and raise their own egg-laying hens. The city commission has voted to waive the Chicken or Fowl Pen and Domestic Animal Application fee for 2025. However, you must still apply to receive a permit and follow the city ordinance.
Source: KSN-TV

As property valuation notices are mailed out this week, not everyone is happy with what they are seeing. Most home valuations in Sedgwick County are up this year, and homeowners are worried about how it could affect the bottom line on their taxes. The assessed value of a home, which is the smaller number on a property valuation notice, plays a big role in determining how much you pay for your property taxes. It’s multiplied by the mill levy rate to decide how much you pay.
Source: KSN-TV