(a) The commission may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs of reviewing a qualifying project. The commission shall develop and adopt a qualifying project proposal fee schedule sufficient to cover its costs, including at a minimum the costs of processing, reviewing, and evaluating the proposals.
(b) The commission shall use the professional expertise information required under § 2165.352(c) to determine the amount of the fee charged by the commission to review a qualifying project proposal. The amount must be reasonable in comparison to the level of professional expertise required for the project and may include the cost of staff time required to process the proposal and other direct costs.

(c) The commission may use the money from the fees collected under this section to hire or contract with persons who have the professional expertise necessary to effectively evaluate a qualifying project proposal.