The board of directors shall have charge of all the levees, embankments and other works or improvements constructed to prevent the overflow of any natural watercourse within their respective districts, and, to protect and keep the same in repair, shall have power to employ guards and laborers, and to protect and superintend such work as may be by them deemed necessary, but all money expended for such purposes, where the same is not done under contract let to the lowest bidder, shall only be paid out of the general fund that may be provided by the levy of a general tax upon all the property of the district, as herein authorized.
K.S.A. 24-429