Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Pratt Truss Bridge · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0How is Melvern run?
Melvern’s city government spent $172,000 on day-to-day services in the year to December 31, 2022, about $467 per resident. These are Census Bureau estimates: Melvern didn’t report its figures, so this page shows them without comparisons.
What stands out about how Melvern is run
Read from the city’s budget and official records.
About $467 per resident a year, or $1.28 a day
Day-to-day services only (a Census Bureau estimate). The biggest line: administration & buildings, at 40%.
Thank you for being a neighbor
Melvern didn’t report all of its 2022 figures to the Census Bureau, so most of these numbers are the Bureau’s estimates.
No comparison or trend for Melvern yet
Every year of Melvern’s figures is a Census Bureau estimate: the city reported none of its dollars for 2022. Estimates are shown above, labeled, but never ranked against places that reported or drawn as a trend.
How Town Hall compares budgets →The typical homeowner pays $1,442 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 1.62% of the home’s value, vs 1.29% across Kansas.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Melvern’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate. In a town this small the estimate has a wide margin.
Tax bills are one input to Melvern’s Cost of living grade. Cost of living in Melvern →
Who’s in charge in Melvern
Names change after every election, so we link to the source that keeps them current.
Melvern’s meeting calendar isn’t in our feed yet. The city posts agendas and minutes on melvernks.com ↗.
One full-time city employee for every 184 residents
On the payroll in March 2022, from the Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll. Residents: the Census population in the 2022 finance file (368).
By department full-time, plus part-time, March 2022
The Census reports one month’s payroll (March); yearly figures are that month × 12, an estimate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
Marais des Cygnes Valley Unified School District 456
Melvern’s K–12 school district, shared with Olivet, Quenemo, Melvern Township, Agency Township, Lincoln Township and more. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $22,095 per pupil, $13,779 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Kansas districts overall: 28% local, 61% state, 11% federal.
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Melvern’s votes are counted by county
Kansas reports official results by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Melvern alone, and we don’t estimate them. These are Osage County’s results.
Donald J TrumpRepublican72.7%5,736 votes
Kamala D HarrisDemocrat24.7%1,946 votesOthers: 2.7% (210 votes).
Most votes in Osage County: Donald J Trump
Kansas: Trump 57.2%, Harris 41.0%
100% of Melvern lies in Osage County. Every 2024 race in Osage County is on the county’s page.
Osage County’s 2024 results →Official 2024 general election returns, as certified (MIT Election Data + Science Lab). Percentages are of votes for candidates; blank and spoiled ballots aren’t counted. Candidates are listed by votes, and party colors are neutral on purpose.
Portraits: Kamala D Harris: official vice-presidential portrait, Lawrence Jackson, The White House, 2021; Donald J Trump: official portrait, Shealah Craighead, The White House, 2017. All are U.S. government works in the public domain. A race shows photos only when every candidate has an official portrait; otherwise every candidate in it gets initials.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Melvern.
- 1Your cityMayor & councilOfficials: melvernks.com ↗
- 2Kansas HouseState representatives
- 3Kansas SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Kansas
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Melvern’s government
The official site has phone numbers, hours and forms. Neighbors add the rest to the Handbook.
Questions about Melvern’s government
How much does Melvern spend per resident?
About $467 per resident on day-to-day services in the year to December 31, 2022, a Census Bureau estimate (Melvern didn’t report its figures). With building projects and interest, the whole budget was about $306,000.
What is the property tax rate in Melvern?
Homeowners report a typical bill of $1,442 a year (Census ACS, 2020–24), about 1.62% of the typical home’s value, vs 1.29% across Kansas. For the official rate per $1,000 of assessed value, see melvernks.com.
Who runs Melvern’s government?
See melvernks.com for current officials. We name an official only when a public source lists a current term, and none does for Melvern yet.
How did Melvern vote in 2024?
Kansas counts votes by county and precinct, not by city, so there are no official results for Melvern alone. Osage County, where 100% of Melvern lies, voted Trump 72.7%, Harris 24.7% for president; its page has every race.
How many people work for Melvern?
2 full-time and 4 part-time employees in March 2022, with a March payroll of $8,606 (about $103,272 a year if every month were the same), as reported to the Census Bureau.
Who represents Melvern in the state legislature?
State Senate District 3 (Rick Kloos) and State House District 76 (Brad Barrett). The House district also covers 51 other towns. Listed by Open States; districts from the Census Bureau.
Ask neighbors about Melvern’s government
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments (2022, every government) and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (2023–24, a sample) and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll (for Melvern, the Bureau’s estimates); day-to-day spending is current operations, with hospitals, utilities and airports apart. School district: Census school finance survey, 2023–24. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 2020–24. Elections: official 2024 returns via the MIT Election Data + Science Lab; turnout uses Census citizen voting-age population (CVAP, 2020–24). Officials: Open States, names shown only with a current term (checked October 9, 2026). Districts: Census Bureau (119th Congress, 2024 state districts); legislators: Open States and congress-legislators. How Town Hall works →