A Honolulu City Council measure to boost Oahu’s economy by attracting eligible film studios through real property tax incentives is receiving a boost from city and state officials.

Bill 59 garnered support from Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s administration as well as the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, among others at the Council’s Committee on Budget meeting last week.

Introduced by Council member Augie Tulba, the measure would provide greater real property tax incentives for eligible film studio facilities to move here — for those willing to spend at least $100 million toward local improvements.

It would also expand opportunities for budding filmmakers — particularly for students enrolled in the University of Hawaii’s Academy for Creative Media System — to earn a living wage, and allow local workers to remain in the state. By state estimates, calculated between 2017 and 2022, the local film industry generates about $400 million annually and supports over 4,200 jobs in Hawaii.

But to bolster Bill 59’s intent to draw and keep more film productions on Oahu, the city administration offered its own amendments to the measure.

Those city amendments include seeing film studios established on a minimum 10-acre property for a five-year period or upon issuance of a certification of completion by the city Department of Planning and Permitting.

The city would also establish an exemption of the assessed building value of film studios for a period not to exceed 20 years, provided the owner of a film studio promotes economic expansion of “the motion picture, film and digital media industry in the city throughout the exemption period,” the amendment reads.

In addition, the film studio would contract “with the city for a license to use the city-approved logo, and requires from its users of the film studio facilities, a five-second long static or share-card of the city logo in the end credits of all film, video or digital media that are produced or created at the film studio facilities during that exemption period,” according to the amendment.

Andrew Kawano, city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services director, said Bill 59 would result “in meaningful advancement of our film production studios that we have on island.”

“What we have currently on-island is very much dated and lacking,” Kawano said at the Tuesday meeting. “I myself have done some walk-throughs of where film production is done, and we definitely feel that if we don’t do anything, with all of the competition that exists in Australia and throughout the United States, in other foreign countries, we’ll start to lose this business activity on-island.”

He added “at the end of the day, filmmakers will go elsewhere for productions.”

Tulba questioned the budget director over the city’s amendments to Bill 59. “Based on the 10-acre minimum, what is the estimated fiscal impact to the city?” he asked.

Kawano said the city does not have an estimate. “But the way the proposed bill is written, as soon as the developer leases property from a government entity — likely part of the University of Hawaii — the developer will be subject to real property taxes,” he added.

He noted the measure also allows the developer and owner of the film studio facility to have an up to 20-year exemption “against the value of the building component.”

“The land component, as this operation grows, will continue to be taxed,” he said. “(The) developer will pay tax to the city and county on the land portion, and that’s the benefit to the county, so that’s a more of a direct benefit under this bill.”

Still, Kawano added that the city was “open to making changes as we move forward so that the bill is meaningful for the industry.”

During public comment, Georja Skinner, chief officer of the Creative Industries Division at DBEDT, said the state stood in support of Bill 59.

“We are fully ready to be part of the team that helps move this forward in City Council,” Skinner said, adding “in the overall spend in (film) production in the state, Honolulu has the majority of the activity.”

In 2016, DBEDT completed a study that “validated” the need for more film studios to locate here, she said. However, she said the state knows it’s expensive to shoot films in Hawaii, something of prime concern to many filmmakers.

“And anything that we can do in government, whether it’s city or state to alleviate that concern, it would be important,” she added.

Meanwhile, Skinner noted that in June, UH — a governmental tax-exempt institution — formally issued a request for proposals toward a private film studio development at UH West Oahu in Kapolei.

According to the university’s website, the property in question consists of about 34 acres adjacent to the new Skyline rail station. The project site is bound by Farrington Highway to the north, Kualakai Parkway to the east, UH West Oahu to the south and Hawaii Tokai International College campus to the west.

“The project will be developed pursuant to a development agreement and long-term ground lease to be negotiated between UH and the selected developer, subject to review and final action by the UH Board of Regents,” the website states. “UH expects the selected developer to design, build, finance, operate, manage and maintain the project for the life of the long-term lease at little to no cost to the university. Ownership would revert back to UH when the ground lease expires.”

The deadline for submissions was Oct. 13. A developer is scheduled to be announced by Dec. 15, according to the UH website.

Later at the meeting, Council member Matt Weyer asked whether a private developer leasing government property — such as property on UH — was required to pay property taxes.

“That is correct, yes,” Kawano replied. “The lease to a third party will create property taxes.”

Ultimately, the Council voted to continue Bill 59, to a date uncertain, to further hash out details on the measure in committee.