(a) Any person, firm or corporation entering into a formal contract with this state, or any county thereof, municipality or political subdivision, or any public board, department, commission or institution thereof for the construction or maintenance of public buildings, works or projects, or the doing of repairs to any public building, works or projects, shall be required, before commencing on such work covered by such contract, to execute the usual bond with good and sufficient sureties, as required by law, with the additional obligation that such contractor shall promptly make payment of all taxes, licenses, assessments, contributions, penalties, and interest thereon when, and if, the same may be lawfully due this state, or any county, municipality or political subdivision thereof by reason of and directly connected with the performance of such contract or any part thereof. Any such bond shall be deemed to include the foregoing obligation irrespective of whether or not the same be expressly written into such bond.

(b) On any contract of less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the foregoing obligation need not be undertaken, nor shall it be implied, if the contractor presents sufficient evidence that the payments required by this section have been paid. The sufficiency of the evidence presented shall be determined in the following manner:

(1) The state building commission shall make the determination of sufficiency for projects under its jurisdiction pursuant to rules lawfully promulgated by the commission;

(2) The state procurement commission shall make the determination of sufficiency in any case involving any state agency, department or institution by whatever name called, except as otherwise provided by subdivision (b)(1) or (b)(4), pursuant to rules lawfully promulgated by the procurement commission;

(3) The governing bodies of counties and municipalities or appropriate central administrative authority designated by vote of the governing bodies shall make the determination of sufficiency in the case of county or municipal agencies pursuant to rules lawfully adopted by the governing bodies or their designated central administrative authority. In making such designations and developing such rules, county and municipal operating departments and agencies shall not be given authority to determine the application of this law to specific cases without the approval of some higher central authority, whether the governing body or some central administrative authority; and

(4) For other political subdivisions, public boards, departments, commissions or institutions not otherwise covered by subdivision (b)(1), (b)(2) or (b)(3), the legally constituted governing board, or, if such does not exist, the administrative authority shall make the determination of sufficiency pursuant to rules lawfully adopted by the board or authority.