(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an applicant shall, subject to section 81-12,213, be entitled to receive matching funds from the State of Nebraska as follows:

(a) For any amount of investment up to two million five hundred thousand dollars made by the applicant by the end of the transformational period, the applicant shall be entitled to receive two dollars of matching funds for each such dollar of investment; and

(b) For any amount of investment in excess of two million five hundred thousand dollars made by the applicant by the end of the transformational period, the applicant shall be entitled to receive five dollars of matching funds for each such dollar of investment.

(2) For any project described in subdivision (2) of section 81-12,203, the applicant shall be entitled to receive up to five million dollars of matching funds from the State of Nebraska without having to make any investment in the project. Any amount of matching funds in excess of five million dollars shall be paid in accordance with subsection (1) of this section.

(3) Subject to section 81-12,213, the state shall pay the available matching funds to the applicant on an annual basis.