Before any money shall be borrowed, appropriated, raised, or expended for the purchase, construction, repairing, rebuilding, or extending of water works or filtration plants in any village, or for the payment of any indebtedness incurred by the village, in purchasing, constructing, repairing, rebuilding, extending, and maintaining water works or filtration plants, the council shall cause to be made an estimate of the expense thereof. The council may determine to specially assess any portion of the cost of water improvements to property especially benefited thereby pursuant to chapter 8.