Area officials concerned with economic development are finding much to appreciate in North Carolina’s long-awaited biennial budget, which was signed into law Friday by Gov. Pat McCrory. After weeks of discussion and wrangling between members of the N.C. House and Senate, both chambers this week approved a compromise $21.735 billion spending plan, which they sent to the governor.

Business-related aspects of the budget of particular interest to the Cape Fear area include the following:

Film:
The final budget document made official the $30 million per year appropriated for film and television project grants. A movie can receive up to $5 million; a television project up to $9 million, according to Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission.

Griffin said Friday that officials in the N.C. Department of Commerce, which contains the state’s film office, will need to develop the structure for reviewing grant applications and awarding grants, but he believes that will be done “relatively quickly” so that projects will have the information they need to consider filming in North Carolina.

Ports:
The legislature approved an appropriation of $35 million in each of the budget’s fiscal years for the state ports, according to Steve Yost, president of North Carolina’s Southeast, the regional economic development agency. The money is designed to modernize and  improve capacity at both the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City.

“Ports are so critical for economic development efforts,” Yost said Friday. “We have got to make them modern, competitive ports.”

Sales tax redistribution:
Major disagreements surfaced in the General Assembly about how to steer more sales tax revenues to the state’s 79 rural counties. Legislators wrestled with a proposal that would have redistributed existing sales tax revenues, sending much more of those revenues to the counties where consumers lived, rather than to the counties where they made the purchases.

After considering various percentage changes, legislators ultimately scrapped the redistribution plan in favor of creating two new sales taxes, all of which revenue would go into a fund targeted at those rural counties.

“The new sales taxes will raise more than $60 million,” Tony McEwen, Wilmington’s assistant to the city manager for legislative affairs, said Friday.

“Plus, $17 million will be transferred from the General Fund into that fund, making the fund total about $84.8 million.”

McEwen said that total is about what the 79 rural counties would have realized from earlier sales tax redistribution proposals, but the new revenues are generated without taking money from more populated counties.

“Even with a 50-50 sales tax revenue split, the city of Wilmington would have lost about $22 million over three years, a major hit,” he said.

Pender County is one of the targeted 79 counties, and should see its sales tax revenues rise by about 13 percent, according to McEwen. The tax money can be spent only on education-related construction, community college-related projects and on economic development projects, he said.

Historic preservation tax credits:
Although the historic preservation tax credit program expired at the end of 2014 and was missing from early budget proposals, the program ultimately was restored, although with lower reimbursement percentages, according to Susan Kluttz, secretary of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

Kluttz said Friday that her department voluntarily crafted changes to the program that would reduce its cost, making it more palatable to legislators. For example, the tax percentages that can be claimed for projects are lower. Some projects too small to be eligible for the program can now qualify, however, she said.

Attempts to reach officials at Historic Wilmington Foundation, who have lobbied hard for reinstatement of the tax credit program, were unsuccessful as of press time.

Economic development incentives:
Yost said that overall, there are some economic development measures he likes in the new budget. He mentioned additional funding for the Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program, whose fund pool had been largely depleted; the One North Carolina Fund, for which $9 million per year was appropriated; and an increase of several million dollars for infrastructure grants available to rural counties. Those counties in the greater Wilmington area include Brunswick and Pender, Yost said.

North Carolina Biotechnology Center:
The center, which has a location in Wilmington, had its funds cut in the last state budget and was threatened with de-funding in earlier Senate versions of this year’s biennial budget. That did not happen.

“The now-official state budget appropriates $13.6 million for the Biotech Center for both years of the budget. That is the same as our appropriation for the year that ended June 30,” said Robin Deacle, the center’s spokeswoman, said in an email Friday.

“We are relieved at the outcome, and grateful for the strong showing of support across the state. Legislators really heard the business community and their stories about the importance of the Biotech Center’s work," she said.

As they examine the contents of the biennial budget, Wilmington officials are “very pleased with where we ended up, versus where we started,” McEwen said Friday.