AFS Working to Include Austin Studios Expansion in City Bond Package
City of Austin staff and City Councilmembers have been hard at work over the last several months to create a bond package to fund various local projects. This week, the City Council will decide the details of a bond election set for November 6 -- the first wide-ranging bond election since 2006 -- and will approve ballot language for the bond propositions. The city has until August 20 to determine what will go into the final bond package if it is to make the November ballot. What does this have to do with Austin film? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole support including Austin Studios improvements in the final bond package, based on the positive economic impact of television and film production for Austin.
"Sheryl Cole is recommending Austin Studios for $5.4 million in a reduced bond package of $385 million," stated Rebecca Campbell, executive director of Austin Film Society.
The bond packages proposed by the Bond Election Advisory Task Force and City of Austin staff primarily focus on mobility and transportation projects. Other areas of funding currently include open-space and park enhancements, city facility improvements such as library renovations, and affordable housing.
The Austin Film Society has been working since December 2011 to include funds to improve and expand Austin Studios in the bond packages. In April, Campbell provided an update on the Austin Studios expansion plans during the community forums about the bond issues. During last week's City Council work session and public hearing about the bond packages, she and several supporters from the Texas film industry, including The Lying Game producer Randy Sutter and casting company owner Beth Sepko, attended and spoke about the needed improvements. You can watch their testimony online for Item 117 (Part 1 of 3) during the August 2 City Council meeting.
According to the 2012 Austin Studios Bond Request, AFS is seeking $7.5 million to expand Austin Studios into the National Guard Armory building next door, which will increase the square footage for television and film production and add affordable office space for small creative businesses. The building that will be vacated by the National Guard later this month needs major repairs to meet basic code compliance. AFS also intends to use funds for improvements to the water and wastewater infrastructure as well as lot-wide tarmac repair and improved ADA access.
"The Armory is a wonderful addition, but it's 50 years old and it needs fixing up, including a new roof, plumbing, air conditioning and wheelchair accessibility," Campbell noted in her April update about the bond package.
The estimated total need for Austin Studios is closer to $16.5 million, but AFS plans on filling the funding gap itself, as it did in 2006 when it received only $5 million of the $11 million needed for Austin Studios. With help from the 2006 bond, Austin Studios installed soundproofing, HVAC systems and electrical upgrades to convert the old Mueller Airport hangars into sound stages ideally suited for film and television production. AFS has invested a total of $3.2 million in Austin Studios.
In 2000, AFS was entrusted by the City of Austin to convert 20 acres of the former airport into a center for media production. The facility currently features a 10,000-square-foot office building that houses production-oriented small businesses, and over 100,000 square feet of production space in the formerly vacant hangars. Austin Studios reports that since 2009, the facilities have made an economic impact of over $290 million for the City of Austin through television and film productions including Machete, True Grit, Predators, Spy Kids 4 and ABC Family's The Lying Game, which is currently in second-season production on the Austin Studios lot.
For both city staff and taxpayers, the most desirable bond package would be one that requires little or no property tax increase since property owners bear the burden of paying off bonds through property taxes. Although city officials claim that they could reasonably issue $385 million in bonds over the next few years without having to raise the part of the city's property tax rate, the city may still raise the tax rate to cover increasing daily operating costs.
AFS plans on conducting a capital campaign for $2.5 to $2.9 million to improve its "public face" with screening rooms and classrooms. With over 4,000 visitors each year, AFS will continue to invite artists, youth and the general public to screenings, classes, tours, field trips and networking events.
Additional information on the bond development and Austin Studios expansion:
[Full disclosure: Slackerwood is published by Austin Film Society, which operates Austin Studios.]