(a) Any county that has been designated a rural opportunity zone pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 74-50,222, and amendments thereto, may participate in the program provided in this section by authorizing such participation by the county commission of such county through a duly enacted written resolution. Such county shall provide a certified copy of such resolution to the secretary of commerce on or before January 1, 2012, for calendar year 2012, or on or before January 1 for each calendar year thereafter, in which a county chooses to participate. Such resolution shall obligate the county to participate in the program provided by this section for a period of five years, and shall be irrevocable. Such resolution shall specify the maximum amount of outstanding student loan balance for each resident individual to be repaid as provided in subsection (b), except the maximum amount of such balance shall be $15,000.

(b) If a county submits a resolution as provided in subsection (a), under the program provided in this section, subject to subsection (d), the state of Kansas and such county which chooses to participate as provided in subsection (a), shall agree to pay in equal shares the outstanding student loan balance of any resident individual who qualifies to have such individual’s student loans repaid under the provisions of subsection (c) over a five-year period, except that the maximum amount of such balance shall be $15,000. The amount of such repayment shall be equal to 20% of the outstanding student loan balance of the individual in a year over the five-year repayment period. The state of Kansas is not obligated to pay the student loan balance of any resident individual who qualifies pursuant to subsection (c) prior to the county submitting a resolution to the secretary pursuant to subsection (a). Each such county shall certify to the secretary that such county has made the payment required by this subsection.

(c) A resident individual shall be entitled to have such individual’s outstanding student loan balance paid for attendance at an institution of higher education where such resident individual earned an associate, bachelor or post-graduate degree under the provisions of this section when such resident individual establishes domicile in a county designated as a rural opportunity zone which participates in the program as provided in subsection (a), on and after the date in which such county commenced such participation, and prior to July 1, 2026. Such resident individual may enroll in this program in a form and manner prescribed by the secretary. Subject to subsection (d), once enrolled such resident individual shall be entitled to full participation in the program for five years, except that if the resident individual relocates outside the rural opportunity zone for which the resident individual first qualified, such resident individual forfeits such individual’s eligibility to participate, and obligations under this section of the state and the county terminate. No resident individual shall enroll and be eligible to participate in this program after June 30, 2026.

(d) The provisions of this act shall be subject to appropriation acts. Nothing in this act guarantees a resident individual a right to the benefits provided in this section. The county may continue to participate even if the state does not participate.

(e) The secretary shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to administer the provisions of this section.

(f) On January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter until January 1, 2027, the secretary of commerce shall report to the senate committee on assessment and taxation and the house of representatives committee on taxation as to how many residents applied for the rural opportunity zone tax credit.