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Broken Arrow council approves film incentive up to $59,000 to attract production
Summary
The City Council approved a pilot film incentive program that authorizes up to $59,000 drawn from the lodging tax to attract a motion-picture production to Broken Arrow.
Broken Arrow’s City Council approved a pilot film incentive program authorizing up to $59,000 to attract a production to film in the city.
The incentive is funded from lodging-tax revenue rather than sales or property taxes, City Communications Director Aaron McCullough said. "The incentive is paid for through the funds that we collect through the lodging tax," McCullough said.
Councilor Justin Green described the incentive as part of a broader state initiative to draw film projects to Oklahoma and said Broken Arrow has positioned itself to compete. "This new film is gonna be produced right here in Broken Arrow," Green said, and he added the production company told the council it would shift plans to consider Broken Arrow once the incentive was approved.
City officials said the council views the program as an economic-development tool: producers spending on hotels, food and local services will generate lodging-tax revenue that funds city services. McCullough said the council hopes the program will "shine a spotlight on our wonderful town."
The council described this as a pilot program; details on eligibility criteria, reimbursement process and any performance requirements were discussed by staff at the meeting but not specified in the recorded remarks. The transcript indicates the production company's representative spoke with the council before the vote, but no formal vote tally, mover or seconder was recorded in the meeting audio excerpt.
The city will administer the incentive from lodging-tax receipts; the council did not state a scheduled review date for the program in the recorded remarks.
