13 Wednesday, July 13

Allen County commissioners consider land bank proposal

2022-07-14T07:56:24-05:00July 13th, 2022|

County commissioners want to learn more about legal ramifications if they start a land bank. They don’t want to see the county collect a bunch of unwanted property they’ll have to take care of, and would rather wait until developers show interest. Jonathan Goering, Thrive Allen County’s economic development director, is ready to move forward with plans to start a land bank. Commissioners, though, aren’t quite as enthusiastic. They’re concerned the county could end up with a surplus of unwanted property they’ll have to maintain, and they could lose some property tax revenue. Goering assured them they have options to control [...]

13 Wednesday, July 13

Manhattan to have forum on future of parks and rec programs

2022-07-14T07:56:33-05:00July 13th, 2022|

Residents can give input on the future of parks and recreation programming, city officials announced Tuesday. The Manhattan Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will hold a special meeting ... The purpose is to gain feedback on the future of parks and recreation programming. The meeting will be a facilitated public forum, according to a press release from the city government. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend and participate. The public forum will involve a brief overview from city government staff members on the parks and rec programming and budget, followed by facilitated conversations aiming to seek community feedback and [...]

13 Wednesday, July 13

Inflation rose 9.1% in June, even more than expected, as price pressures intensify

2022-07-13T08:38:48-05:00July 13th, 2022|

Shoppers paid sharply higher prices for a variety of goods in June as inflation kept its hold on a slowing U.S. economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. The consumer price index, a broad measure of everyday goods and services, soared 9.1% from a year ago, above the 8.8% Dow Jones estimate. That marked another month of the fastest pace for inflation going back to December 1981. Source: CNBC

13 Wednesday, July 13

For 3 years, Topeka has been paying people up to $15K to move there. Is it working?

2022-07-13T08:30:09-05:00July 13th, 2022|

Kenyon and Stacey Gleason were already planning to move to Topeka from South Dakota.... It wasn’t until they were shopping for homes with their Topeka real estate agent that they learned another financial incentive awaited them. Kenyon could apply for Choose Topeka’s relocation program, which gives remote workers who move to Shawnee County $10,000 toward the purchase of a home. A few months later, Kenyon happily cashed the $10,000 check. ... their experience also illuminates the complexities and blind spots of economic development efforts like Choose Topeka. Its approach — attempting to grow the tax base by targeting individuals rather than [...]

13 Wednesday, July 13

Municipal-Bond Issuers Fall Behind on Disclosures

2022-07-13T08:26:18-05:00July 13th, 2022|

U.S. states, cities and counties are taking longer to file regular financial reports, leaving bondholders in the dark and adding to pressure on prices. S&P Global Ratings last month withdrew its ratings for 30 cities, counties and other municipalities because they haven’t yet filed their 2020 financial statements. The ratings company also placed New Orleans on credit watch in April for late reporting, the largest city analysts can recall incurring that sanction in more than a decade. Source: WSJ.com: Markets To utilize our Continuing Bond Disclosure services, email Beth Warren.

13 Wednesday, July 13

The sixth annual Salina Comic Con is at TPEC this weekend

2022-07-13T08:07:41-05:00July 13th, 2022|

Coming back for the sixth straight year, the 2022 edition of Salina Comic Con is happening over the weekend in the Great Plains Manufacturing Convention Hall at Tony's Pizza Events Center (TPEC). Featured guests at this year's con include Justin Nimmo, the original silver ranger from "Power Rangers in Space," C. Andrew Nelson, who has played and voiced Darth Vader several times in the Star Wars franchise of films, TV shows and video games and Alan Fernandes, the only living Tusken Raider from the original 1977 "Star Wars" film, "A New Hope." ... "As a city facility, our mission is to [...]

13 Wednesday, July 13

Lawrence and Douglas County leaders call for more in-depth discussion of homeless shelter, affordable housing

2022-07-13T08:05:47-05:00July 13th, 2022|

Douglas County leaders want to do more to help people in the local homeless shelter transition into stable housing, and they say they’ll need to work closely with City of Lawrence leaders to achieve that. Leaders from the city and the county held a joint work session on affordable housing on Tuesday, giving county commissioners a chance to learn more about housing issues in Lawrence from city leaders. But the work session only lasted about 45 minutes, and County Commissioner Shannon Reid said the governments needed to have a more extensive conversation in the future, particularly about the Lawrence Community Shelter. [...]

13 Wednesday, July 13

Municipal Bond Trends for July 12, 2022

2022-07-13T08:04:27-05:00July 13th, 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.

12 Tuesday, July 12

Fed’s Barkin is open to raising rates by 50 or 75 basis points in July

2022-07-12T22:47:13-05:00July 12th, 2022|

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin kept his options open on how big the central bank should go when it raises interest rates later this month, following an increase of 75 basis points in June. “I am one of the guys who like the option value of deciding the week of the meeting as opposed to two weeks before the meeting,” he told reporters Tuesday after a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina. “But I thought Jay’s guidance the last time was very sound. We’ll get a little bit more information before the meeting and importantly we’ll get CPI. I’ll [...]

12 Tuesday, July 12

Effort launched to coordinate federal infrastructure funds for Kansas

2022-07-13T08:00:36-05:00July 12th, 2022|

At the end of June, Governor Laura Kelly announced the creation of the Kansas Infrastructure Hub, which will coordinate Kansas state agencies and local entities as they administer and apply for funding available through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The Hub will identify statewide and regional infrastructure priorities, strategize as to how to maximize investment opportunities, and promote best practices in securing and distributing funding. Kansas is set to receive close to $3.8 billion in direct funds for transportation, water, energy, and broadband projects. Kansas could potentially receive more by applying for competitive grants. “Infrastructure creates opportunities, powers businesses, keeps [...]

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