The interest rate table above illustrates recent changes in a sample of MBIS “investment grade” yields. 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.
Andover is expecting to see a large influx of population in the near future. Taking this into consideration, the city proposed a 1% sales tax increase to fund projects that will support the incoming population. One of those projects included the revitalization of the Andover 13th Street Sports Park. The park is heavily utilized each year by hundreds of youth baseball players, but often fell short in the ability to host the number of games needed. Other problems like drainage issues were common throughout the park, and the parking lot and spectator seating were in desperate need of expansion. All of those problems and many more are being addressed during the revamp that began May 2023.
Source: Andover American
The land bank also considered policies to standardize practices. The policies included goals, like transferring ownership of unclaimed blighted properties to a taxpayer, reducing properties under violation, supporting homeownership and expanding the tax base. The land bank said they would like to look at changing the goals to include nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity. Daniela Rivas, city manager, said that generally land banks were used for putting land back on the tax roll, but nonprofits could be included.
Source: Harvey County Now
With current childcare regulations, a person wanting to run a facility from their house must get permission from the city in many areas. … The commissioners said they would like to look into changing the zoning requirements in the future so childcare facilities can open in the heart of the city without opening the property up to other businesses if the current owner were to move.
Source: Harvey County Now
Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Tuesday the time is not right yet to start lowering interest rates, adding she would be open to raising if inflation doesn’t pull back. “Should the incoming data indicate that inflation is moving sustainably toward our 2 percent goal, it will eventually become appropriate to gradually lower the federal funds rate to prevent monetary policy from becoming overly restrictive,” Bowman said in prepared remarks for a speech in London. “However, we are still not yet at the point where it is appropriate to lower the policy rate.” Those comments reflect a prevailing sentiment at the central bank, in which most policymakers have said in recent weeks that, while they still expect inflation to get back to the Fed’s 2% target, they need more evidence. Recent readings have shown moderating inflation, with the Fed’s preferred indicator running just under 3%. However, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee noted after its last meeting that there has been only “modest further progress.”
Source: Economy
An emergency shelter is now open in Cowley County, and it has already housed its first temporary residents. The shelter has been in the works for years but now has the opportunity to change lives. In Cowley County, resources for housing are slim. The Cowley House of Hope shelter is meant to fill those gaps. The shelter’s been in the works since 2017 when thousands of dollars had to be raised to make it a reality. The shelter is built similarly to a duplex. It sleeps five people and has two rooms with several beds in each. Each room also has a small kitchen and bathroom. Winfield, the seat of Cowley County, doesn’t have enough resources to put into homeless infrastructure. So, the city and county turned to nonprofits to fill in the gaps. “A lot of shelters have staff, or they have more steady resources than what we do. We’re dependent mainly and mostly, entirely on donations, private donations,” said Bradley Gamber, the director of the Cowley House of Hope. Due to the lack of funding, the shelter is still small, but officials with Winfield said that at any given point in Cowley County, there are between 14 and 30 people struggling with housing.
Source: KLC Journal
Fire crews have been fighting a blaze at Evergreen Recycle in Park City for more than two days. During a similar fire in 2022, investigators said part of the challenge was that the owner wasn’t following fire code with the wood piles, and it took nine days to put out. “It’s a challenge. I don’t know that it’s a strain. We’ve got maybe 40% of our resources out here right now,” said Sedgwick County Fire Marshal Brad Crisp. “In 2022 when we were here, we put about 1,500,000 gallons of water on it.” In October of 2022, crews rushed to a similar fire at Evergreen to discover that owner Jeff Ralls wasn’t following fire code, which they say made it even more difficult to control. For example, Crisp says the piles of wood can’t legally be higher than 25 feet, but investigators said they were between 35 and 60 feet high in 2022. Crisp says another violation was the narrow roadways between the piles, which are supposed to be a minimum of 40 feet wide so firefighters have plenty of room to maneuver. Crews ended up battling the fire around the clock for nine days straight. But Crisp says this time, it’s a different story. “The property owners did a lot of work since that last fire to keep the piles smaller, lower, and more spread out,” said Crisp. Crisp says Ralls is now in full compliance.
Source: KAKE – News
The city of Pittsburg approved a tax incentive for a new retail development featuring three major stores. The plan includes adding Ulta, Rack Room, and Five Below to the city’s shopping options, aiming to retain local shoppers and provide more variety. The agreement with a group representing the Pittsburg Town Center Shopping Complex redistributes the 1.5% local sales tax collected by three new retailers. 2/3 of it will go to the city. The other 1/3 will go to the developer to recoup construction costs, with a cap of $600,000 or 20 years of collections, whichever comes first. Officials expressed interest in the project after witnessing the success of Marshall’s, which was added to Pittsburg’s retail landscape in November 2022. “We’ve recently added Marshall’s, which has been extremely successful,” said Kim Froman, Director of Community Development and Housing. “We’ve seen a 23% increase in that shopping area since the addition of Marshall’s. So we’re really excited for that.” Froman believes that bringing in Ulta, Rack Room, and Five Below will enhance the local shopping experience and keep residents from traveling to nearby cities for their retail needs.
Source: KOAM News
Troubled by what they see as a perceived pattern that favors wealthier neighborhoods, some Shawnee Mission school board members have begun to discuss how the district should handle private donations, bequests and gifts. A three-member task force of board members Jessica Hembree, Jamie Borgman and David Westbrook met for the first time on the topic last week. Their aim is to better understand the existing policies on donations and find a way to clarify the district’s position on how that money should be spent. Almost every Shawnee Mission school board meeting includes at least one vote on whether to accept private donations and bequests. Often those votes are part of a consent agenda lumped in with various other non-controversial items. But some board members have been uncomfortable with the limited descriptions and discussion of those donations and have asked for a fuller explanation of the mechanics and rules.
Source: Johnson County Post
AGCO has announced that around 6% of its workforce will be laid off due to “weakened demand in the agriculture industry.” It is not known exactly how many employees will be affected at their Hesston production facility, or the timing as to when the layoffs will take effect. In a statement, the company says the layoffs are not related to a shift in production to Mexico that was announced earlier this month. AGCO says that the Hesston facility will continue to manufacture Massey Ferguson windrowers, large square balers, combines and combine headers. The company has invested more than $28 million into the facility since 2021. Those investments have been focused on updating and modernizing systems and equipment. “By streamlining the Hesston portfolio, our goal is to secure a profitable future for the plant,” the company added.
Source: KAKE – News
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