1. The board of supervisors of any drainage district organized under the provisions of sections 242.010 to 242.690 shall, as soon as elected and qualified, levy a uniform tax of not more than eight dollars per acre upon each acre of land within such district, as defined by the articles of association to be used for the purpose of paying expenses incurred or to be incurred in organizing said district, making surveys of the same and assessing benefits and damages and to pay other expenses necessary to be incurred before said board shall be empowered by section 242.450 to provide funds to pay the total cost of works and improvements of the district.

2. In case the boundary lines of the district be extended under the provisions of section 242.050, so as to include lands and other property not described and contained in the articles of association, the same uniform tax shall be made on such lands and other property as soon as same shall have been annexed and included in the district.

3. Such tax shall be due and payable as soon as assessed and if not paid by December thirty-first of the year in which it has been levied, the same shall become delinquent. It shall become a lien on the land and other property against which it is assessed and shall be collected in the same manner as the annual installment of tax. In case the sum received from such assessment exceeds the total cost of items for which the same has been levied, the surplus shall be placed in the general fund of the district and used to pay cost of construction; provided, that if the corporation of the district be dissolved, as provided for in section 242.290, the amount of surplus, if there be any, shall be prorated and refunded to the landowners paying such uniform tax.