Voice For Liberty Individual liberty, limited government, economic freedom, and free markets in Wichita and Kansas.

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Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -- Truman Capote A 2018 review by economist Tim Bartik of 30 different studies of incentive offers concluded that 25% or fewer of the investors were swayed by the offers. -- Nathan Jensen All this talk: the state should do this or that, ultimately means: the police should force consumers to behave otherwise than they would behave spontaneously. -- Ludwig von Mises Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another. -- H. L. Mencken

Kansas jobs, May 2019 Employment in Kansas grew in May 2019, but continued a trend of slower growth than the nation. The labor force is smaller. Notable: Of the growth of 600 jobs from April to May, 100 were in the private sector, and 500 in government. Click for more .

Airport traffic statistics, 2018 Airport traffic data presented in an interactive visualization, updated through 2018. Click for more .

Todd Johnson, Wichita Crime Commission From the Wichita Pachyderm Club this week: Todd Johnson, president of the Wichita Metro Crime Commission. This audio presentation was recorded on June 21, 2019. Click for more .

Wichita and other airports How does the Wichita airport compare to others? Click for more .

Support the Voice for Liberty: Become a Patron Patreon is a popular service that helps writers and creators generate income to keep their content flowing. You can support the Voice for Liberty by using Patreon. Click for more.

School funding decision doesn’t end litigation The Kansas Supreme Court’s June 14 ruling that school funding now meets the court’s definition of being constitutionally adequate is likely just a ‘time-out’ in school funding litigation. The decision doesn’t preclude schools from taking further legal action, either within the current Gannon litigation or with another lawsuit. And just like large funding increases in the past, this latest billion dollar funding increase will do very little to improve student achievement. From Kansas Policy Institute. Click for more.

Counties, cities use budget loopholes to avoid property tax lid Though it’s only been in effect for two years, local officials are finding ways around the state’s property tax lid. The lid law ties city and county budget increases to inflation, capping the amount of property tax revenue officials can raise without seeking a vote of citizens. Some officials have found ways to exploit exemptions to the 2015 law, however. From The Sentinel. Click for more.

New metropolitan rankings regarding knowledge-based industries and entrepreneurship New research provides insight into the Wichita metropolitan area economy and dynamism. There have been some rankings showing Wichita doing well in jobs at young firms. That’s good, as young firms — which are different from small business — are vitally important to economic growth. This study, however, shows Wichita lagging in young firm employment ratio. In these rankings, Wichita came in at position 247 of 379 metro areas. That is better than the overall ranking for Wichita, which is at number 319. Click for more.

Updated: Metropolitan populations A visualization of the population of metropolitan statistical areas, now with annual data from 1969 through 2018. Click for more .

Claim that more Gannon money will be used to hire 5,400 teachers doesn’t stand up to scrutiny If you were to believe Gannon plaintiff attorney Alan Rupe, schools across the state are poised to hire 5,400 new teachers. This additional cadre of educators would allow the education system in the state of Kansas to satisfy the Rose standards by providing what Rupe described as “the 25% deprived of a constitutionally equitable and adequate education.” From Kansas Policy Institute. Click for more.

City slates private land for stadium parking The City of Wichita is planning to develop private land for parking and other use that is not currently owned by a developer. The latest draft of the Ballpark Village Master Plan examines the situation around the ballpark and subsequent commercial development planned for the land facing the Arkansas River. The plan relies heavily on city use of private property as seen in the adjacent image from the draft plan. From The Sentinel. Click for more.

City-subsidized project creates parking nightmare for Delano businesses The city of Wichita is spending $75 million on a new baseball stadium to replace Lawrence Dumont and subsidize an adjacent for-profit development, and that’s creating serious parking problems for other local businesses in the Delano neighborhood. From The Sentinel. Click for more.

Wichita airport traffic Traffic is rising at the Wichita airport. How does it compare to others? Click for more .

State government tax collections Now data for fiscal year 2018 is available, and it shows Kansas collecting $1,172 per person in individual income taxes, an increase of $372 or 46.5 percent over 2017. Click for more.

Populations of the states An interactive table and charts of populations in the states and regions, from 1929 through 2018. Click for more.

Naftzger Park, according to Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell He had an opportunity to learn the true history of Naftzger Park in downtown Wichita. But Mayor Jeff Longwell didn’t learn, or maybe he doesn’t care. Click for more.

Wichita city council approves vague land bank, rezoning plan Despite multiple objections from residents and a number of unanswered questions, Wichita city council unanimously voted today to adopt an urban infill plan. According to the National League of Cities (NLC), urban infill is “…new development that is sited on vacant or undeveloped land within an existing community, and that is enclosed by other types of development.” From The Sentinel. Click for more.

Wichita jobs and employment, April 2019 For the Wichita metropolitan area in April 2019, the labor force is up, the number of unemployed persons is down, the unemployment rate is down, and the number of people working is up when compared to the same month one year ago. Seasonal data shows small declines in labor force and jobs from March. Click for more.

From Pachyderm: Kansas legislative wrap up From the Wichita Pachyderm Club, a legislative wrap up featuring Representative Brenda Landwehr and Senator Ty Masterson. This was recorded May 31, 2019. Click for more.

Wichita population, 2018 The City of Wichita lost 1,052 in population from 2017 to 2018, a decline of 0.27 percent.The estimate of population on July 1, 2017 was revised from 390,591 to 390,317, meaning that for 2017, Wichita population declined by 242 from the July 1, 2016 population of 390,509. With the revised 2017 figure, Wichita has had two years of declining population. Click for more.

Kansas has 15th highest state aid per-student, moving toward top ten Education data for all 50 states just released by the U.S. Census shows Kansas had the 15th highest state aid in 2017 at $8,130 per-student. Additional funding provided since then puts state aid in excess of $9,000 per-student, which would put Kansas among the ten highest in the nation. New Jersey had the 10th highest amount in 2017, at $8,847 per-student. From Kansas Policy Institute. Click for more.

Churn and Burn: Incentives and the Wichita Economy At a recent Wichita City Council meeting members grappled with what to with the WaterWalk development. The old Gander Mountain building was sitting empty and a company wanted to move in, but the ground lease would not provide rental income to the city. Wichita still owes $1.7 million on WaterWalk. Moreover, with the west bank development including a $75 million baseball stadium going in, council members wondered out loud if this was the best use of prime riverfront real estate. From The Sentinel. Click for more.

Blue Valley teachers vote to abandon the KNEA Teachers in the Blue Valley school district left the Kansas National Educators Association (KNEA) last May and they overwhelmingly rejected KNEA in an election held last week by the Kansas Department of Labor. From The Sentinel. Click for more.

Sedgwick County job growth continues strong pace In the fourth quarter of 2018, Sedgwick County continued strong job growth. The job growth rate for Sedgwick County was 100th best among the nation’s 350 largest counties. Click for more.

What could be done with WaterWalk There is (was) an opportunity for Wichita to break the logjam holding up development at WaterWalk. Click for more.

King of Freight move a step sideways A Wichita firm plans to move its offices to what was billed as the city’s premier entertainment district. Click for more.

Kansas jobs, April 2019 Employment in Kansas continues to grow in April 2019, but continues a trend of slower growth than the nation. The labor force is smaller. Click for more.

Wichita personal income growing, but slowly Among the nation’s 383 metropolitan areas, Wichita ranked 347th for personal income growth. Click for more.

Kansas personal income growing, but slowly For 2017, just four states had less growth in personal income than Kansas. Click for more.

Advocates admit Medicaid expansion won’t save rural hospitals Pressed to consider the facts with emotion removed, even some strong advocates admit Medicaid expansion won’t save rural hospitals. And that includes expansion’s leading advocate – Governor Laura Kelly. From The Sentinel. Click for more.

An Update from Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt Derek Schmidt, the Kansas Attorney General, talked about recent and upcoming litigation his office is involved in during a luncheon at the Wichita Pachyderm Club May 17, 2019. Cases mentioned include a recent abortion ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court and three pending cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Click for video.

Wichita public schools, by the charts The Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for USD 259, the Wichita public school district, provides a look at trends over the years. Here are some highlights from the CAFR for the year ending June 30, 2018, known as fiscal year 2018. Click for more.

The finances of Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita A truthful accounting of the finances of Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita shows a large loss. Despite hosting the NCAA basketball tournament, the arena’s “net income” fell. Click for more.

KPI releases 2019 Green Book Each year in the Green Book, Kansas Policy Institute explores the relationship between economic growth and the size of government. From Kansas Policy Institute. Click for more.

More Wichita planning on tap We should be wary of government planning in general. But when those who have been managing and planning the foundering Wichita-area economy want to step up their management of resources, we risk compounding our problems. Click for more.

Wichita ballpark STAR bonds, 2018 issue A bond disclosure document anticipated a development agreement for land surrounding the new Wichita ballpark. Click for more.

Updated: Gross domestic product by state and industry An interactive visualization of GDP by state and industry, updated with annual data through 2018. As shown in the accompanying illustration, Kansas has not kept up with most surrounding states. Click for more.

State of the City, Wichita: Employment strength Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell’s State of the City video relies on flimsy evidence and plucks scant good news from a sea of bad. This is a problem. “Recession-proof” glosses over recent years of declining production. “Historically low” unemployment rates ignore a stagnant and declining labor force. “An across-the-board increase in overall jobs this year” doesn’t contextualize that the forecast rate of growth for Wichita is anemic compared to the nation. Click for more.

Kansas GDP In the fourth quarter of 2018, the Kansas economy grew at the annual rate of 0.9 percent, down from 1.2 percent the previous quarter. Over the last eight quarters, Kansas has averaged quarterly growth rates of 0.5 percent in annual terms. For the nation, the rate was 2.7 percent. For the Plains states, it was 1.5 percent. Click for more.

Wichita jobs and employment, March 2019 For the Wichita metropolitan area in March 2019, jobs are up, the labor force is up, and the unemployment rate is unchanged when compared to the same month one year ago. Seasonal data shows a small decline in jobs from February. Click for more.

State of the City, Wichita: The bright future Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell’s State of the City video doesn’t seem to be based on reality. Click for more.

Wichita population falls; outmigration continues The population of the Wichita MSA fell from 2017 to 2018, and net domestic migration continues at a high level. Click for more.

Wichita aerospace manufacturing concentration Wichita leaders want to diversify the area economy. Has there been progress? Click for more.

New county data underscores struggling Kansas economy Prototype county-level Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows deep pockets of concern for the Kansas economy. From Kansas Policy Institute. Click for more.

The History and Importance of the 2nd Amendment Dr. Eric Sands, Associate Professor of Government at Berry College, spoke to the Wichita Pachyderm Club April 26, 2019, on “The History and Importance of the 2nd Amendment." Click for video.

Updated: Employment in the States An interactive visualization of the civilian labor force, employment, and unemployment, for each state. Updated through March 2019. As seen in the nearby example, Kansas continues its undistinguished record in job growth as compared to nearby states. In the visualization, you can easily choose states to compare, select a timeframe, and look at labor force, employment, and unemployment. Click for more.

Kansas personal income For 2018, the rate of personal income growth in Kansas was near the bottom of the states, although the fourth quarter was much better. Click for more.

Pay no attention to the Ferris wheel on the riverbank When the City of Wichita shows architectural renderings, are we to treat them as promises, or as someone’s unrealizable dream? Click for more.

In Wichita, we don’t know who we’re dealing with Wichita takes a big risk entering in a public-private partnership without knowing its partners. Click for more.

Updated: Kansas hotel guest tax collections Kansas hotel guest tax collections presented in an interactive visualization. Click for more.

Updated: Metro area employment and unemployment An interactive visualization of labor force, employment, and unemployment rate for all metropolitan areas in the United States. Updated with data through January 2019. Click for more.

2018 A-F Grading of Kansas Schools Released One year ago, Kansas Policy Institute unveiled the initial groundbreaking A-F grading system for Kansas public schools and released the 2018 grade card last week. KPI undertook that effort to create a reporting system so that parents could more easily understand exactly how schools are performing. The Kansas Department of Education (KSDE), like all state education departments across the country, publishes a “Report Card” on its website, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to synthesize all that information to determine overall performance of individual schools. From Kansas Policy Institute. Click for more.

Wichita considers a new stadium The City of Wichita plans subsidized development of a sports facility as an economic driver. Originally published in July 2017. Click for more.

Wichita and national jobs Overall, since 2011 — roughly the end of the Great Recession — Wichita has been gaining jobs, evidence being its trend line above zero in the nearby chart which shows the change in jobs over the same month one year ago. But the line has not always been above zero, indicating months where the Wichita metropolitan area had fewer jobs than the year before. Click for more.

Wichita city protections for ballpark land development The City of Wichita says it has safeguards built in to the proposed baseball park land development deal. We need safeguards. The city is borrowing to pay for the project, and the city expects to collect a lot of money from surrounding development, necessary to pay off the borrowed money. Click for more.

Wichita ballpark land deal: John Todd In this short video, John Todd tells us why the city is not acting in the best interest of citizens regarding the land development deal near the new Wichita ballpark.  Click for more.

Wichita vets its baseball partner(s) The City of Wichita tells us it has thoroughly vetted the majority owner of the new Wichita baseball team. Click for more.

Did Wichita forget the interest? In a presentation, Wichita economic development officials ignore the cost of borrowing money. Click for more.

In Wichita, respecting the people’s right to know The City of Wichita says it values open and transparent government. But the city’s record in providing information and records to citizens is poor, and there hasn’t been much improvement. Click for more.

Wichita, not that different We have a lot of neat stuff in Wichita. Other cities do, too. Click for more.

Wichita legal notices could be more accessible Kansas law requires publication of certain notices in newspapers, but cities like Wichita could also make them available in other ways that are easier to use. Click for more.

Update: Wichita city sales tax not passed There was no successful Wichita city sales tax election. City documents were mistaken, which raises more issues. Click for more.

In Wichita, no tenant poaching, unless waived The city of Wichita has included anti-poaching clauses in development agreements to protect non-subsidized landlords, but the agreements are without teeth. Click for more.

Coverage of Wichita baseball owner Lou Schwechheimer Press coverage of new Wichita baseball team majority owner Lou Schwechheimer. Click for more.

Kansas GDP In the third quarter of 2018, the Kansas economy grew at the annual rate of 2.3 percent, down from 4.7 percent the previous quarter. Click for more.

Is the Wichita mayor satisfied with this? A gloomy jobs forecast is greeted with apparent approval by Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell. Click for more.

Sedgwick County Commission needs to slow down, get things right Sedgwick County needs to make sure past issues are known and settled before proceeding with hiring a new county manager, writes former commissioner Richard Ranzau. Click for more.

Another Wichita survey, another set of problems The Wichita Eagle editorial board notices problems with a survey gathering feedback on Century II. Click for more.

Wichita mayor promotes inaccurate picture of local economy Wichita city leaders will latch onto any good news, no matter from how flimsy the source. But they ignore the news they don’t like, even though it may come from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Click for more.

Wichita, a recession-proof city Wichita city officials promote an article that presents an unrealistic portrayal of the local economy. Click for more.

Job growth in Wichita: Great news? A tweet from a top Wichita city official promotes great news that really isn’t so great. There is good news — Wichita is not forecast to lose jobs, as it has in the recent past. But the rate of growth seen for Wichita is not robust, and that’s a serious problem, especially when our officials think it’s good. Click for more.

Wichita migration not improving Data from the United States Census Bureau shows that the Wichita metropolitan area has lost many people to domestic migration, and the situation is not improving. Click for more.

In Wichita, a gentle clawback Despite the mayor’s bluster, the city failed to enforce the agreement it made to protect taxpayers. Instead, the company receives $153,000 in free taxes that it didn’t deserve, along with an interest-free loan of $100,000 amortized over four years. Click for more.

Wichita employment to grow in 2019 The forecast for Wichita metro area employment in 2019 calls for modest growth of 0.9 percent, according to the Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University. This follows growth of 0.8 percent in 2018. Click for more.

Personal income in Wichita rises, but slowly For 2017, personal income in Wichita rose, but slower than the national rate. For all metropolitan areas in the United States, personal income rose by 4.5 percent. For the Wichita metro area, the increase was 2.3 percent. Of 383 metropolitan areas, Wichita’s growth rate was at position 342. Click for more.

Sedgwick County tax exemptions Unlike the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County has kept track of its tax exemptions. Click for more.

Efficiencies in Sedgwick County government A document that hasn’t been made public details savings achieved in Sedgwick County over a recent period of nearly three years. Click for more.

The use of sales tax proceeds in Wichita Must the City of Wichita spend its share of Sedgwick County sales tax proceeds in a specific way? Click for more.

Sedgwick County income and poverty Census data show Sedgwick County continuing to fall behind the nation in two key measures. Click for more.

Ranked-choice voting in Kansas A look at ranked-choice voting and how it might have worked in the Kansas Republican gubernatorial primary election in August 2018. Click for more.

Project Wichita survey The Project Wichita survey is about to end. Will it have collected useful data? Click for more.

Wichita property tax still high on commercial property An ongoing study reports that property taxes on commercial and industrial property in Wichita are high. In particular, taxes on commercial property in Wichita are among the highest in the nation. Click for more.

Wichita and Midwest income How much do Wichitans earn at their jobs, compared to other cities? Click for more.

Local government employment in Kansas Kansas has nearly the highest number of local government employees per resident, compared to other states. For all local government employees, Kansas had 50.59 per thousand residents in 2016, higher than all states (and areas) but the District of Columbia and Wyoming. These employees had an annual payroll of $2,141.16 per resident. Ten states were higher. Click for more.

NAEP results for 2017 available in interactive visualizations When properly considered, Kansas often underperforms the nation in the most recent assessment of “The Nation’s Report Card.” Click for more.

Wichita economy shrinks, and a revision Statistics released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, show gross domestic product (GDP) figures for metropolitan areas. Also included are revised statistics for previous years. For 2017, the Wichita metropolitan area GDP, in real dollars, fell by 1.4 percent. Revised statistics for 2016 indicate growth of 3.8 percent for that year. Last year BEA reported growth of -1.4 percent. Click for more.

Pete Meitzner for Sedgwick County? In normal times, Republicans may be reluctant to vote for a Democrat for the Sedgwick County Commission. But these are not normal times, and a vote for Pete Meitzner sends a message that we just don’t care about our economy. Click for more.

Kansas highway pavement conditions Each year the Kansas Department of Transportation surveys the condition of highway pavement and issues a report called the Network Optimization System (NOS) Survey. Of the condition of highways, the report notes: “Since the data was first collected in 1983, the percentage of pavement surface in good condition has appreciably increased while the percentage of poor pavement has significantly decreased.”. Click for more.

Kansas school spending, through 2018 Charts of Kansas school spending presented in different forms. One of the most important charts shows state spending per-pupil, adjusted for inflation. It shows the total of state and local spending, which is useful because in 2015 the state made a change in the way revenue is allocated between state and local sources. It also shows base state aid per pupil, which is an important number as it is the starting point for the school funding formula. Click for more.

GDP by metropolitan area and component The Bureau of Economic Analysis, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce, gathers data about economic output, known as gross domestic product. The visualization presented here presents this data in tabular and graphic form. Click for more.

State government employees in Kansas Kansas has more state government employees per resident than most states, and the trend is rising. Two things are evident: The level of employment in Kansas is generally higher than the other states, and the trend in Kansas is rising when many states are level or declining. This data counters the story often told, which is that state government employment has been slashed. Click for more.

Kansas state and local taxes Among nearby states, Kansas collects a lot of taxes, on a per-resident basis. From the first quarter of 2011 to the first quarter of 2018, Kansas and its local governmental units collected an average of $681 per quarter per resident in taxes. Of nearby states and a few others, Arkansas and Iowa had higher values, and Iowa is higher by only one percent. Click for more.