The city of Shawnee is officially launching a new city property tax rebate program for low-income residents. After some discussion Monday, the Shawnee City Council unanimously approved the pilot program, which would allow a 100% rebate on the city portion of property taxes, up to $500, for residents who would qualify for the program.
Source: Prairie Village Post
Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill sponsored by Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids that would create a working group to study what the federal government needs to do in regards to the fledgling industry. It now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it’s being shepherded by Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran. The bill is an attempt to get the government prepared for what will likely change the future of transportation. It will mean everything from new safety regulations, to infrastructure in the form of “vertiports,” to getting the public onboard with the concept of drone-like planes flying around their neighborhoods. It’s also an attempt to keep Kansas — with its well-established aeronautics industry — at the forefront of the next generation in flight.
Source: Kansas City Breaking News & Sports | The Kansas City Star
October’s surge in consumer prices was driven by some factors that may linger. Market pros say the Federal Reserve may be forced to move up the timeline on its ultimate inflation-fighting tool: interest rate hikes. The consumer price index jumped 0.9% on a monthly basis, and was up 6.2% year-over-year, the fastest pace in 30 years. According to Dow Jones, economists had expected a 5.9% gain. Excluding food and energy, the increase was still high, up 0.6% or 4.6% year-over-year. CPI measures inflation based on a basket of products from rents and groceries to gasoline and medical services. After the October report Wednesday, Treasury yields rose and markets began to price in more aggressive Fed tightening, or interest rate hikes.
Source: Economy
Johnson County residents can look forward to enhanced bus and van transit starting in the second quarter of 2022. On Nov. 4, the county commission approved several pilot programs for transit, paid for by one-time infusion of federal money — $3.85 million annually for four years. “The board has established strategic priorities for transit, which include creating a transit system that is accessible, effective and efficient; is regionally coordinated; and connects housing, workforce and jobs,” Commission Chairman Ed Eilert said in a news release.
Source: Joco 913 News
Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister wants to consider how to reuse space in the local jail — without adding any new beds — to help address inequities. Men in minimum security at the jail get 16 hours a day of free time within their housing unit, Armbrister said; in that time, they can have visitors, be on the phone or watch TV. Women in minimum security, on the other hand, have about three and a half hours of free time each day, he said. “It’s just not fair, and I can’t fix it,” he told Douglas County commissioners Wednesday. “… This is something that we want to see addressed and rectified.” Women constituted about 15% of the jail’s population as of Nov. 3, according to the county’s data dashboard, and the jail was built to house a small number of women. Having only one pod of 14 cells for women in minimum, medium and maximum security classifications has long been problematic.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously voted to move forward with an extension of the city’s temporary “parklets” while staff develops a long-term program. The temporary right-of-way program, which occupies some downtown parking spaces for outdoor dining, was implemented to help restaurants stay in business amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was set to expire at the end of this year, but commissioners moved Tuesday to extend the program through March 31, 2022.A “Lawrence Listens” survey, which yielded 2,000 submissions, drew a largely positive response. Lawrence residents who visit downtown comprised 82.1% of respondents, and the survey showed that 85.6% of all respondents said if the city creates a long-term parklet program, they were either somewhat more likely (17.9%) or much more likely (67.7%) to use the businesses that have parklets.
Source: The Lawrence Times
Kansas Department of Transportation offices in northeast Kansas are committed to keeping the highways cleared whenever inclement weather occurs. In line with workforce shortages across the nation, KDOT does not have enough equipment operators – the agency’s primary snowplow operators – in a number of areas across Kansas. These shortages create the potential for highways to not be cleared of snow and ice as quickly as in the past. The agency has dealt with reduced staffing in the past, but the shortages are greater this year. Northeast KDOT offices are about 25% short of snowplow operators needed to be fully staffed, with a 30% shortage of needed equipment operators statewide.
Source: Atchison Globe Now
Sedgwick County Commissioners had a brief discussion at their regular meeting Wednesday on the impact of a proposed elimination of the food sales tax in Kansas. Commissioner Jim Howell said he favors tax cuts, but he wants to know what the financial impact will be on the county’s budget. The county’s Chief Financial Officer, Lindsay Poe-Rousseau, said legislative research has indicated that there would have been a $4 million loss to the county in 2020 and a $4.3 million loss for this year. County Manager Tom Stolz said the Finance Department began looking at the numbers when Governor Laura Kelly announced her proposal this week. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is running for governor next year, recently called on lawmakers to reduce or eliminate the tax during their 2022 session.
Source: Country 101.3 KFDI
Mayor Becky Anderson and city council members of Lindsborg announced the appointment of the city’s next administrator. Kristi Northcutt, will succeed longtime City Administrator Greg DuMars with the appointment effective Dec. 22, 2021. The city said Northcutt’s career includes extensive experience in community management for the past eight years, serving as Senior Director of Community Relations for Anthem, Arizona – a master planned community with 29,000 residents north of Phoenix.
Source: Salina Journal
Traders in the futures markets moved up their expectations for the first Federal Reserve interest rate hike to July from September, following a hotter than expected inflation report. “It’s a very sharp move we’re seeing the back end of 2022,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. October’s consumer price index came in at a scorching 6.2% year-over-year, higher than the 5.9% expected. Traders are now fully pricing in a first rate hike for September, but they are pricing in much higher odds that the Fed starts to raise rates sooner. The Fed has said it would complete tapering its bond buying program by the middle of the year, and then begin raising interest rates. “The effective fed funds rate is currently at 8 basis points and the fed funds July contract is priced at 27 basis points,” said Boockvar. Each rate hike is assumed to be a quarter of a percentage points.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
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