(1) The department shall distribute funds from the oil, gas, and coal natural resource account to qualifying counties with more than one incorporated city or town using census information provided by the department of commerce.

(2) The population information will be updated with the third quarter distribution, which is distributed in January, and continue to be used until the next yearly update.

(3) A qualifying county that has an incorporated city or town that is not included in the census must inform the department of revenue of that fact, and provide proof of incorporation along with the population information for that city or town.