Governor’s Water Conference Deadline Fast Approaching

The Conference Agenda Has Been Posted on the Kansas Water Office Website

The Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas will be Tuesday, November 13 and Wednesday, November 14, at the Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center in Manhattan, Kansas. Registration price increases after November 1.

This is the seventh year for the conference and building off last year’s success, there will be keynotes in the morning on Day 1 including Tom Kula, Executive Director of North Texas Municipal Water District, Tim Hardman, World Wildlife Fund and breakout sessions in the afternoon.

The conference topics include:

• Reservoir Management to Meet Growing Demands
• Market Forces That Influence Conservation and Management Practices
• Infrastructure for the Future
• Water Technology Farms and Ogallala Aquifer Impacts
• Kansas Water Vision Implementation
• Why Does Navigation Matter to Kansas

The fourth Water Legacy Award will be presented at the conference Tuesday morning and ‘Be the Vision’ nominees will be recognized as well.

To view the brochure for a current list of speakers and panelists visit: www.kwo.ks.gov

Day two will build on the water policy, funding and vision implementation discussions from the previous day with technical presentation talks and posters. Graduate and undergraduate students will also present their research.

Anyone who has an interest in our state’s water resources, legislators, water managers, state, federal, city and county officials as well as scientists, organizations and agricultural producers are all welcome and encouraged to attend.

Registration is available online at www.kwo.ks.gov. The deadline for regular pricing is November 1! Conference details, brochure, speakers, sponsors and hotel information can be found online as well.

The Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas is hosted by the KWO, K-State /Kansas Water Resource Institute. Major sponsors for the event include Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock.

If accommodations are needed for persons with disabilities, please notify the KWO, (785) 296-3185, at least five working days prior to the meeting.

Fiscal year tax collections exceed previous year by $183.49 million

TOPEKA—Fiscal year tax collections have exceeded previous year’s totals by $183.49 million according to data from the latest revenue report released Thursday.

Fiscal year 2019 tax collections so far total $2.20 billion, exceeding estimates by $105.60 million.

October tax collections were up $10.71 million, or 2.14 percent over last year. October’s tax collections exceeded expectations for the month by $6.99 million.

Individual income tax collections in October totaled $242.29 million which is $12.88 million or 5.61 percent above the same time last year. October sales tax collections fell short of last October’s collections by $3.88 million.

Governor Colyer highlights the successful launch of KanLicense, mobile driver’s license renewals

TOPEKA—Governor Jeff Colyer, M.D. on Wednesday congratulated the Department of Revenue and its partners on the extraordinarily smooth rollout of two new interfaces to serve Kansas driver’s license and ID holders.

Kansas is now the first and only state in the country to offer driver’s license renewals through a mobile application. Mobile renewals join other already existing services like vehicle registration renewal and vital statistics on the iKan application available for iOS and Android.

“My vision for Kansas is to make as many services accessible through phones and computers and this is a huge addition. Most everyone has to renew their license and now many of them can do it without ever stepping foot in an office,” Governor Colyer said. “Congratulations to KDOR and its partner PayIt on getting this fantastic service out the door and ready for use.”

The availability of mobile renewals was made possible by the launch of a different system, KanLicense, the new secure interface used by driver’s license examiners to issue licenses and IDs.

“This launch was incredibly smooth with minimal interruption to service for Kansans,” Governor Colyer said. “The modernized system now in place empowers faster customer service, plus ease of use for examiners—two critically important factors for a better experience for Kansas drivers at the office.”

Web access to iKan services like mobile renewal, vehicle registration and more is at ikan.ks.gov.

This week, the hours of operation for most driver’s license offices statewide changed to 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, which brings the addition of a full day of service every week.