HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Property owners who live inside what is known as the ring levee west of Hutchinson have known or had opportunity to find out all information on a special  assessment for more than three years know.

Yet many who filled up the city council chambers during today’s agenda session to complain about it said they had no idea that the assessment was coming or had a problem with how the assessment was being disbursed to landowners.

Despite opposition to per-property assessment, the Hutchinson City Council on approved the ordinance setting assessments for improvements to the levee. Many who attended commented on or asked questions about the project and assessments, many arguing that assessments should be proportional rather than a flat assessment per parcel.

The assessment will be $920.15 per parcel, either payable in a lump sum by Sept. 16 or financed for 10 years. The assessment should not come as a surprise owing to three years of planning, construction, bids, meetings and most of all a petition signed by more than 50 percent of the landowners in the ring levee area. Council member Jade Piros de Carvalho said she thought the arguments for proportional assessments were valid, but she didn’t think the city could change it because the 2013 petition from property owners specifically asked for per-parcel assessment.

The city was forced to pay for a study of the entire levee system and then make changes required by FEMA to keep the levee system up to floodplain standards. The city originally asked the county to help with the costs of repairing the ring levee since it is outside the city limits. The county balked at the idea using a state statute that preventing them from bonding money for a city project. That left, Willowbrook, Hutchinson and South Hutchinson to foot the bill.

The city decided not to fund improvements to the ring levee at that time putting all landowners in the floodplain under FEMA standards.

Once that happened, a landowner started the petition to have a special assessment to pay for the improvements which came before the council now, three years later.