Council raises wage requirement for creative content incentive; expands support for local film and game workforce

The Austin City Council on Sept. 25 amended and approved updates to the city's creative content incentive program to require that projects seeking the incentive pay either applicable union wage rates or the city living wage, whichever is higher.

Councilmember Sabina Siegel, who led the amendment, said the change is designed to make the city's film, television and video-game incentives an investment in Austin’s creative workforce rather than a subsidy that could undercut local pay standards. The amendment was developed with industry stakeholders and adopted by the council; the amended program was then approved as amended.

Why it matters: The state recently expanded incentives for the creative industry and council and staff said local updates were timely to ensure Austin-based projects also benefit local workers. Supporters told council the majority of creative-production workers are gig or intermittent hires who rely on strong hourly wages between jobs.

Process and vote - The council considered item 9 as a consent-related item pulled for brief discussion. The original motion to adopt item 9 was made by Councilmember Caudrey and seconded by Councilmember Siegel. - Councilmember Siegel moved the amendment to require union or living wages for incentive recipients; the amendment was seconded by Councilmember Kadri and adopted without objection. - The main motion as amended was then adopted without objection.

Public comment and stakeholders No public speakers were present for the item when it was called. Councilmembers said they had participated in stakeholder discussions and thanked Economic Development staff for outreach and for preparing program updates.

Implementation City staff will update program guidelines to add the wage requirement and incorporate the changes into application materials. The change will be reflected in the program terms for future incentive awards.