If you own property in Marathon and did not get a sewer assessment last year, you will likely be on the hook this fall.

Last year, property owners in two of the City of Marathon's seven service areas were hit with the assessment. Those two areas, Sombrero Beach and Coco Plum, will be seeing the fruits of their payment come to life this summer as their wastewater plants are expected to be fired up and put into service.

The rest of the city will be getting a bill this summer, and will be faced with the same options as those who have already gone through the procedure. Those options are to prepay in full, or be put on a 20-year payment plan.

"On July 15 they can start paying," said City Manager Clyde Burnett. "That goes until the end of August."

There is a discount to be had for those who have the ability to pay early. The average single-family home property owner can save about $700 over the course of the 20-year payment schedule if they pay before Sept. 1. All single-family home properties are changed the same, but commercial properties and some condominium complexes are assessed based on their water usage. The savings for prepayment can vary depending on how big the initial assessment is.

The one-time assessments are put into place in order for the city to have enough money to install the massive central sewer project. The project is being built in accordance with a state mandated July 2010 deadline, which is less than a year away. The state had mandated that Keys property owners have upgraded wastewater treatment systems in place by the deadline.

In addition to helping out the homeowner, the prepayments also are a benefit to the city. By getting the money up front, the city is able to pay down some of the massive loans it needed to take out in order to finance the $80 million central sewer project. According to Community Services Director Susie Thomas, the city received about $3.1 million in prepayments last year from the two service areas. It was hoping for more, but in perhaps a sign of the economic times it appeared fewer people could shell out the funds up front than expected.

Those who do not pay up front will see their first of 20 annual payments for the assessment on the upcoming tax bill. For single-family home property owners, that annual charge will be around $500. Once the annual payments start rolling, the property owner still has the ability to pay off the entire balance at any time without penalty. They would not get the discount, however.

Although some outside grant money has flowed into the city in recent months, the assessment levels are locked in to the current levels. Any grant money received is being used to help lower the monthly bill property owners will have to pay.

The wave of assessments being sent out will also likely mean a wave of complaints rolling into City Hall. City staffers dealt with hundreds of challenges to the assessment system last year, and were able to handle the vast majority of such issues in-house. Only a handful of the complaints grew so bad that they required a City Council decision. One of those complaints, an issue with the assessment at the Keys RV mobile home park, had to be taken to court.

An updated schedule on the city's progress in installing the sewers can be found on the city Web site at www.ci.marathon.fl.us.

rbusweiler@keysnews.com