2-2008. Soil erosion caused by wind; work performed for prevention; notice to landowners; special assessments; limitation; division of cost; action by landowner. (a) When work has been done by the county, or by anyone employed by it to carry out its orders respecting the planting or cultivation of any specific tract of land under K.S.A. 2-2004 or 2-2006, and amendments thereto, and warrants issued therefor, the board of county commissioners shall notify the owner of the land, by certified mail or otherwise, of the amount thereof and require the owner to make a showing before them, on a day named, which shall not be less than 30 days after the date of the notice, as to why the cost of the work should not be levied against the land as a special assessment. Unless the owner of the land can show that the work was necessitated by circumstances beyond the owner's control, and which could not reasonably have been anticipated, the expense thereof shall be assessed against the land as a special assessment.

(b) The assessment shall be made by an order of the board of county commissioners, which order shall be recorded in its minutes, and shall be collected as a special assessment. The amount of the assessment shall not exceed $3 per acre for each acre on which work is done for any one year, unless the board of county commissioners determines at its first meeting during any calendar year that $3 per acre is not adequate to cover the actual cost of the work. Upon such determination the board of county commissioners shall fix, at the first business meeting of the board during any calendar year, an amount in excess of $3 per acre which the board determines to be a reasonable assessment per acre to cover the actual cost of the work during such calendar year. If the amount assessed against any such acre in any year exceeds $3 or exceeds the amount fixed by the board of county commissioners in any year to cover the cost per acre of the work for that year, or the total amount assessed against any such acre in more than one year and which is uncollected exceeds $3 or exceeds the amount fixed by the board of county commissioners in any year to cover the cost per acre of the work for that year, such amount shall be collected in annual installments not exceeding $3 or the amount fixed by the board of county commissioners at its first meeting during any calendar year to cover the actual cost of the work per such acre, as applicable.

(c) For good cause shown, the board of county commissioners may divide the cost between the owner of the land and the county. All moneys collected on such special assessment shall be credited to the soil-drifting fund. Any landowner aggrieved at the amount of the assessment against the landowner's land may bring an action in the district court of the county in which the land is situated to test the validity of the assessment or to enjoin its collection, but such action must be brought within 30 days after the assessment is made, and cannot be brought thereafter.

History: L. 1937, ch. 189, § 8; L. 1955, ch. 8, § 1; L. 1987, ch. 11, § 1; July 1.