(a) The commissioner may make loans to counties or, if sufficient funds are not available for loans, may contract with counties for the payment specified, as an aid to the counties in financing or defraying the cost of employing persons to assist county boards of tax assessors in carrying out programs reasonably designed to survey and evaluate all, or substantially all, of the property within a county's boundaries and to equalize assessments on the property. The commissioner may promulgate rules, regulations, and instructions as he deems necessary to the purposes and administration of this Code section. The governing authority of each county shall have the exclusive right to determine with whom it shall contract or whom it shall employ to carry out a program receiving aid pursuant to this Code section.

(b) Upon application by a county governing authority for aid under this Code section and upon the submission of a valuation and equalization program, the commissioner shall determine whether the program complies with the rules, regulations, and instructions promulgated pursuant to this Code section. Upon the showing of compliance, the commissioner may contract, to the extent funds are available for loans to counties from funds appropriated for such purpose, with the county governing authority for a loan from the state to pay a part, or all, of the cost of the program and for the repayment of the amount loaned. The contract shall provide for the repayment of the amount loaned without interest in five equal annual installments. The first installment on each loan shall be due on December 31 of the first calendar year for which a property tax digest is prepared following the final payment by the commissioner under the terms of the contract. One of the remaining annual installments shall be due on December 31 in each of the four calendar years following the initial payment. The contract shall also provide that whenever an annual installment is in default, the commissioner shall have an irrevocable power of attorney from the governing authority to direct the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services to pay over to him, as commissioner, all funds otherwise due the county or its governing authority under Code Section 48-14-3 or under any other appropriation of the General Assembly for grants to counties for aid in county road construction or county road maintenance until the default has been paid. The Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services shall comply in each instance with the commissioner's direction. The commissioner shall not make loans in excess of $100,000.00 to any one county.

(c) In the event the commissioner determines that insufficient funds are available under subsection (b) of this Code section to meet the needs of any county in financing a qualified program, subject to the maximum limitation provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, and in the further event that a county governing authority applying and submitting a qualified program demonstrates to the satisfaction of the commissioner that sufficient additional funds can be obtained from other sources to complete satisfactorily the program, the commissioner may contract with the county governing authority for the payment by the state from funds appropriated and available for such purpose of 10 percent of the cost of the qualified program. No amount contracted for pursuant to this subsection shall be repaid. The amount to be paid by the state, however, on behalf of any one county under any contract entered into pursuant to this subsection, shall not exceed $10,000.00. The commissioner may direct that any payment by the state pursuant to this subsection be made in a single installment or two installments 12 months apart.