Drafter
Clerk 11/18/2022
title
AN ORDINANCE that adopts the 2023-2024 Biennial Budget and makes appropriations for the operation of county agencies and departments and capital improvements for the fiscal biennium beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2024; and establishing an effective date.
body
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings:
A. The council finds that the music and film industries in King County have contributed to the economic vitality of the county and the cultural vibrancy of our communities. The local production of music, digital, television, video and film ("local production") increases tourism, provides family-wage jobs and generates tax revenues for the county from the sale of local goods and services associated with that local production. The council also finds the inherent value of promoting arts and culture associated with local production and the educational benefits a viable local production presence provides by increasing opportunities for training of local production and other creative economy professionals, who in turn will contribute to building a vibrant local production presence in the county. In recent years, the county has realized a drastic decline in local production. That has been exacerbated by the declining state tax credits for television and film production and the coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19") pandemic. As a result, the county, and Washington state as a whole, has lost their competitiveness to attract production projects. In March 2022, the Washington state legislature passed House Bill 1914, which became Chapter 270, Laws of Washington 2022 and which expanded the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program by increasing business and occupation tax credits for motion picture production companies from $3.5 million annually to $15 million annually. With the state's increased film tax credits, along with an improved county production facility, it is expected that producti...
Click here for full text