Kansas Municipal News
Johnson County home appraisals jump again
Johnson County homeowners can expect another jump in property values when they receive appraisal notices in the mail this week — but the county reports that increases aren’t as substantial as in past years.
Appraisal notices went out Monday to about 200,000 residential property owners in the county. Those values help determine what residents pay in property taxes.
Johnson County Appraiser Beau Boisvert said home values have been increasing across the county, due to high demand coupled with the limited housing stock. But this year, most homeowners won’t feel the shock they did in other years, such as 2018, when property values skyrocketed by 15% or more.
(Read more: Joco 913 News)
Emporia elementary school celebrates custodian becoming a US citizen
A custodian at an Emporia elementary school was officially sworn in as a U.S. citizen last week, and the school held an assembly to celebrate.
William Allen White School said in a Facebook post that Obdulia Ortega became a citizen last Friday. During Monday’s assembly, the students sang “This Land is Your Land.”
“This has been something she has been working very hard towards for a long time,” the Facebook post says. “What a great celebration!”
(Read more: KAKE – News)
Wichita State University enters wind turbine tech partnership
Wichita State University and WSU Ventures have entered into a new strategic partnership with California-based Lightning Diversion Systems (LDS), a Ducommun Company.
The partnership involves the exclusive licensing of a lightning strike protection system for rotor blades in the wind turbine industry, the product of several years of research and development by LDS and Billy Martin, senior research scientist for WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research, and his team in NIAR’s Environmental Test Lab.
Lightning strikes are a destructive force in the wind energy industry.
“There are 56,000 turbines in North America alone, and they are all prone to lightning strike,” said Dave Wilmot, vice president and general manager of the Engineered Products Group for Ducommun.
(Read more: KSN-TV)
Topeka committee begins planning for 2020 TopCity Interns
In anticipation of nearly 200 college students flocking to Topeka this summer, a handful of community members have begun planning for this year’s TopCity Interns program.
The program, now in its fourth year, encourages college students to live, work and play in Topeka as they complete internships at area businesses.
“The idea is to expose the interns to different leaders while they’re in Topeka and really just to show them everything that Topeka has to offer,” said Kim Konecny, co-chair of the program.
The students who participate in TopCity Interns don’t apply for the program itself. Instead, they are invited to participate once they have committed to summer internships with participating businesses.
(Read more: Local – The Topeka Capital-Journal)
Legislative bill tied to bonds and interest could bring savings to USD 378 taxpayers
USD 378 Riley County Schools Superintendent Cliff Williams is keeping an eye on a pair of legislative bills that could alter state aid when it comes to bonds and interest, tilting the scales in favor of taxpayers.
Williams says Senate Bill 382 and House Bill 2526 are similar in their approaches, but favors the Senate bill which increases state aid for those districts that have passed bonds between 2015 to 2020.
“We would go from having 0% state aid to having 17% state aid and so just passing that would be a big relief for our taxpayers. I’m hoping the House will look at that and recognize the difference in there and maybe amend their bill as well,” he said.
USD 378 passed its $15 million bond in November. Williams says the savings could be significant if the Senate Bill becomes law.
(Read more: 1350 KMAN)
Recent Johnson County parks board decision allows electric bikes on all paved trails
The Johnson County Parks and Recreation District last week approved the use of Class 1 and Class 3 electric bikes on all paved JCPRD trails, effective immediately.
The decision comes after six-month pilot project, from July 2019 to January 2020, of the two classifications of e-bikes. Superintendent of Parks and Golf Courses Bill Maasen said in a release that the Johnson County Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners are suspending the code limiting patrons from using motorized vehicles on paved trails.
BikeWalkKC Director of Bike Share & Business Services Eric Vaughan is currently working with JCPRD to roll out a bike share program.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post)
Partnership offers free land for jail
Free land was offered for construction of a new Marshall County Jail at Monday’s Marshall County Board of Commissioners meeting.
Marshall County Partnership for Growth economic development director Ellen Barber and board members Rob Peschel and Frank Popejoy met with the board to propose the county take ownership of 5.4 acres north of KanEquip in east Marysville for its proposed jail project. In addition, the partnership plans to work to purchase five more acres east of the proposed 5.4 acres so the county can have the access to the best area for the lift station that will service the whole 10 acres in that area, the Partnership representatives said.
(Read more: The Marysville Advocate)
House approves proposal to raise scrutiny of power pole siting
Dozens of 105-foot-tall Evergy poles in residential front yards of a low-income Wichita neighborhood inspired passage Wednesday by the Kansas House of an amendment expanding regulatory oversight of transmission line siting decisions in urban areas.
The 2018 project initiated by Westar Energy, which now operates as Evergy, sidestepped requests to place the double-deck poles elsewhere. Critics alleged the massive metal poles damaged their property values and would have never appeared in yards of wealthy homeowners. Westar subsequently apologized and donated $1.2 million to a community fund.
Rep. Gail Finney, D-Wichita, urged House colleagues to expand authority of the Kansas Corporation Commission to regulate placement of transmission lines in cities. It would require the KCC to take into account population density, location and aesthetics in siting decisions.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
The bond market will be slapped by coronavirus for months, this analysis finds
As concerns about the coronavirus epidemic from China has gripped markets, observers have struggled to find historical analogies to predict the likely impact on economic growth. Many have focused on prior global health emergencies, like the H1N1 swine flu and SARS, but a new analysis suggests those episodes may not provide the best comparisons.
(Read more: MarketWatch.com – Top Stories)
Rush to Invest in Municipal Debt Pushes Yields to Record Lows
Municipal-bond yields are hitting 38-year lows due to investors’ coronavirus concerns driving up demand in the $4 trillion muni market.
Fears of the coronavirus’s impact on global markets led to a stock selloff on Monday and Tuesday. Investors flocked to munis and other fixed-income investments for stability. The S&P Municipal Bond Index Monday logged its biggest one-day gain in 20 months. A daily gain that big—about one-third of a percentage point—has occurred only five times in the past three years.
“Fear is present and investors are taking some risk off the table,” said Sylvia Yeh, co-head of municipal fixed income at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “That de-risking could mean [they buy into] cash, Treasurys or munis.”
Read more: Wall Street Journal.
Municipal Bond Trends for February 26, 2020
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.
Beards? Goatees? You may start seeing them on Wichita police officers
Since November, many Wichita police officers have been sporting goatees and extra facial hair, which is against the rules.
The rules were bent for a good cause to raise money for local non-profits, but it could become a permanent lifestyle for officers in the near future.
“Some guys just like to wear facial hair, and it is something we are not allowed to do per our policy,” says officer Anthony Villegas.
However, when you step inside Anthony Villegas’s patrol car you’ll see him sporting a goatee.
“The approachability and the relatability are increased and that is obviously one of the perks I suppose of having facial hair visibly,” Villegas said.
(Read more: KSN-TV)
Small towns embrace sharing equipment, people
Most people learn the value of cooperation in grade school — but for cities the word can mean anything from sharing resources to ideas.
Hillsboro has a relationship with Peabody providing its water and sometimes working with Peabody employees on electric issues, Hillsboro city administrator Larry Paine said.
“It’s important, particularly as it’s harder to find employees with the right levels of training in both areas,” he said.
There are drawbacks to sending city workers to assist in neighboring communities, though, Paine said.
“If we were out of town helping another community and needed somebody to respond to a current Hillsboro issue then it would take us some time to get there,” he said. “On the other hand, our collaboration processes give us the ability to have good relationships with the working staff. It opens up the door.”
Making an effort to collaborate becomes more important the smaller a city is because there are fewer resources at that community’s disposal, Florence city councilman Ken Hoffman said.
(Read more: Marion County RECORD)
Merriam discusses moving to LED bulbs in city streetlights
The Merriam city council on Monday discussed purchasing LED bulbs for streetlights in need of replacement, and eventually transitioning entirely to LED bulbs.
A move to LED bulbs is trending among Shawnee Mission cities: Prairie Village its streetlights from Kansas City Power & Light in 2016 and set about installing LED heads. And in November 2019, Overland Park and Lenexa entered a partnership to switch to LED bulbs on some shared streetlights. Recently, Shawnee approved the acquisition of streetlights from Evergy (formerly KCP&L) and a conversion to LED bulbs.
(Read more: Shawnee Mission Post)
Solution for Northeast Wichita food desert in the works
“Why are these stores continuing to open every couple of blocks?” This is one of the questions Wichita Councilman Brandon Johnson hears from his constituents about the excess of dollar stores in Northeast Wichita.
Councilman Johnson says they can be great for jobs, but they are missing a key demand. “No produce, no lettuce, no tomatoes, no cucumbers, anything that is really healthy for you. You can’t get those items,” he said.
There is only one Save-a-Lot in his district. Johnson says overcoming the food desert in Northeast Wichita has been a struggle. “The challenge was that some of these bigger stores and nothing against them, they’re looking at the profit margins,” he said.
(Read more: KSN-TV)
Crawford County climbing visitor spending ranks
New data shows Crawford County now ranks 12th in Kansas for total visitor spending — up 10 spots over the last 4 years.
The county says the casino, hotels and more dining options are helping them grow.
And this opens the door to even more opportunities for attractions for visitors.
Devin Gorman, Crawford Co. Convention and Visitors Bureau, said, “I think we’re in a very good spot right now, there’s always new opportunities for growth as well so whether that’s attracting more events or looking at facilities and whether we need to add something there.”
(Read more: KSNF/KODE – FourStatesHomepage.com)
Kansas moves to rid local tax lid in favor of transparency
Kansas is moving toward eliminating limits on local property taxes in favor of a proposal aimed at requiring officials to be more transparent about upcoming levies.
Many lawmakers don’t think current limits are effective, the Senate voted 39-0 on Tuesday to approve a bill described by supporters as a local tax transparency measure. It goes next to the House.
The bill would repeal a local tax lid pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature by conservative lawmakers in 2015. Cities and counties would be required to send notices to all taxpayers if they intend to raise more money from property taxes in the coming year.
(Read more: KSN-TV)
Hutchinson Council will interview manager finalists this week
The Hutchinson City Council will conduct two executive sessions this week, on Thursday and Friday, to interview city manager candidates.
The sessions will begin at 11 a.m. each day and be held in the Executive Conference Room of the City Council Chambers at City Hall.
No action items are scheduled and the length of each meeting will be determined on those dates, according to agendas posted by the city.
The council on Feb. 13 settled on five finalists, out of more than 30 applications, to grant in-person interviews. The names of the finalist have not been released.
(Read more: Local – The Hutchinson News)
Merriam discusses moving to LED bulbs in city streetlights
The Merriam city council on Monday discussed purchasing LED bulbs for streetlights in need of replacement, and eventually transitioning entirely to LED bulbs.
A move to LED bulbs is trending among Shawnee Mission cities: Prairie Village its streetlights from Kansas City Power & Light in 2016 and set about installing LED heads. And in November 2019, Overland Park and Lenexa entered a partnership to switch to LED bulbs on some shared streetlights. Recently, Shawnee approved the acquisition of streetlights from Evergy (formerly KCP&L) and a conversion to LED bulbs.
Merriam purchased streetlights from KCP&L in 1996, and all light fixtures installed to date have been high-pressure sodium streetlights, according to city documents. There are 228 lights left to install to complete the Merriam Streetlight Program, and 78 of those are set for installation in 2020. The program could be completed with high-pressure sodium bulbs for $950,000, or with LED bulbs for closer to $1 million, Public Works Director Jim MacDonald said.
(Read more: Prairie Village Post)
Kansas Senate moves to restrain county appraisers
Senators in the Kansas Legislature on Tuesday embraced sweeping changes to restrain county appraisers and property valuations that increase local tax burdens.
The Senate passed legislation that would prohibit appraisers from increasing property valuations because of normal maintenance made to the property. They also couldn’t raise valuations while valuations are being appealed.
Other bills that received favor would mandate training for county appraisers and members of the State Board of Tax appeals and would ban someone from serving as county treasurer or appraiser if they previously had been removed from such a position.
(Read more: State Government – The Topeka Capital-Journal)