Municipal News & Jobs

The Kansas Senate on Tuesday rejected a plan from Republican leadership designed to prevent local governments from increasing property taxes to backfill lost sales tax revenue from a separate GOP bill. The Senate last month passed a plan to exempt food from both state and local sales taxes, which would have cut an estimated $180 million a year from local government revenue. Officials warned that the only option for local governments wishing to maintain the same level of services would be to raise property taxes. In an effort to prevent property tax increases, Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, followed up with another bill to create a fund to use state money to compensate local governments for their lost revenue. The bill provided a one-time allocation of $220 million. That bill, Senate Bill 309, was voted down 17-23 on Tuesday.
Source: Salina Journal

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is developing a Vulnerable Road User (VRU) Safety Assessment to plan for improved safety for people walking and biking on all public roads in Kansas. This assessment will be conducted in compliance with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) guidance memorandum dated October 21, 2022, which states:

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide background and guidance to clarify the requirements for the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment as described in 23 U.S.C. 148(l), as amended by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58, also known as the “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” (BIL)). All States are required to develop a Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment as part of their Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 148(l).

PURPOSE: KDOT is hosting six (6) half-day, in-person workshops for relevant representatives of counties and cities. These workshops will improve KDOT’s understanding of VRU safety issues and to distribute information related to the VRU Safety Assessment. During these initial workshops, the project team is seeking feedback on VRU safety issues relevant to your local community or area. The primary purpose of these workshops is to discuss recent data analysis findings and to identify additional issues that are challenging to understand without local expertise. These issues may be related to VRU access, typical usage, contributing circumstances in VRU crashes, areas that may have safety issues but are being avoided by VRUs because of safety concerns and thus not apparent in crash data, and other related issues. The second purpose of these workshops is to discuss potential countermeasures, strategies, and policies that are appropriate to the context of your jurisdiction. The final purpose of these workshops is to determine if local agencies have already undertaken bicycle and pedestrian facility project development.

KDOT would like to invite one representative from your city or county that is familiar with VRU safety issues to attend one of the workshops. You may choose to attend any of the following workshops that is convenient for you:

• District 2 Workshop (North Central Kansas): 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Mon., April 17, 2023 in the KDOT District 2 Conference Room, 1006 N. Third Street, Salina, KS 67401
• District 3 Workshop (Northwest Kansas): 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Tues., April 18, 2023 in the KDOT District 3 Conference Room, 312 S. Second, Norton, KS 67654
• District 6 Workshop (Southwest Kansas): 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Wed., April 19, 2023 in the Dodge City Public Library, Lois Flanagan Room, 1001 N. 2nd Avenue, Dodge City, KS 67801
• District 5 Workshop (South Central Kansas): 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Thurs., April 20, 2023

In the KDOT District 5 Conference Room, 500 N. Hendricks, Hutchinson, KS 67501

• District 4 Workshop (Southeast Kansas): 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Mon., April 24, 2023 in the KDOT District 4 Conference Room, 411 West Fourteenth, Chanute, KS 66720
• District 1 Workshop (Northeast Kansas): 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Fri., April 28, 2023 in the KDOT District 1 Conference Room, 121 SW 21st Street, Topeka, KS 66612

Please RSVP by April 7, 2023, to Ingrid Vandervort (Ingrid.vandervort@ks.gov) indicating which workshop you will attend.

The University of Kansas Achievement & Assessment Institute’s Center for Certification & Competency-Based Education (C3Be) has partnered with KU’s Kansas Fire & Rescue Training Institute (KFRTI) to develop a new volunteer fire officer training course through the adoption of a competency-based instructional and authentic assessment model. Set to launch in early April, the redesign will make the course more accessible to volunteer firefighters across the state of Kansas, including those in rural communities, and will improve leadership at all ranks. KFRTI provides science-driven training and credentialing for fire and emergency services personnel. Courses are comprehensive, designed for entry-level firefighters through executive chief fire officers.
Source: University of Kansas

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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.

Southwest Kansas officials have long pushed a moonshot aqueduct project to send Missouri River water across the state to their region, where a $12.5 billion agricultural economy relies on a dwindling underground aquifer. While the effort has been dismissed as legally impossible and expensive, the persistence of the idea demonstrates how drought and a steadily shrinking water supply have created broad consensus that water policies need to be overhauled. In Kansas, where federal data shows that nearly every county was experiencing some level of drought at the end of 2022, water is among the most urgent issues facing the state legislature this year. “Water has a certain value,” said Clay Scott, a Ulysses, Kan., farmer and one of the aqueduct’s proponents. “Every year it just continues to climb.”
Source: Wall Street Journal

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, Beth Warren or Henry Schmidt.

The Newton school board on Monday night voted 4-3 to begin the process to close the Walton Rural Life Center. The primary question now becomes where students in the K-4 charter school will attend following the closure after this year.
Source: KWCH

After hearing an hour and half of public comment, Lawrence school board leaders have voted to close Broken Arrow and Pinckney elementaries.
Source: LJWorld

Herington’s search for a new city manager has come to an end. Herington City Commissioners approved a contract for Thatcher Moddie, former assistant city manager in Goddard at the end of their Tuesday, March 21 meeting. Moddie’s official start date is April 10. Although this is Moddie’s first city manager position, he is no stranger to city management. He started with the city management team in Goddard in 2018. “I worked under one of the more qualified city managers in Kansas,” Moddie said. “I have gained enough experience over the past four years to navigate my way through anything. I am very involved in state and national city management organizations and I am very well connected across the state of Kansas.” Former city manager Brandon Dross, who left Herington in December 2022 for the city administrator position in Lafayette, Oregon, is familiar with Moddie and said he has confidence in his ability to take on the position.
Source: Abilene RC

Fees for false alarms related to commercial buildings were increased at the Garden City Commission’s regular meeting on March 21. Gene Robertson, Garden City Fire Marshal, said the reason for the increase is that the Garden City Fire Department has seen an increase in the number of false alarms being transmitted from businesses across the city…. “Some of the alarm panels are older and require more attention to keep them functioning properly,” he said. “I identified these specific businesses and have requested to have the alarm panels inspected by certified fire alarm inspectors and provide a report on the status of these alarm panels.”
Source: GC Telegram