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Even with the vote, the state's incentives pale in comparison to those offered by other states in what's become a highly competitive field, said Carlotta Ungaro, president of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The Senate voted 28-13 this week to override Gov. Mark Sanford's budget veto regarding incentives, overcoming opposition from Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort.
"It's better than nothing," Ungaro said. "At least there's a glimmer of hope."
The area's most recent major film production -- "Forces of Nature," with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock -- was in the late 1990s. That was before courting Hollywood became such a high-stakes game, Ungaro said.
Unlike some other states that allow tax credits or refunds for film companies, South Carolina pays cash to reimburse producers a percentage of the wages and supplies. The wage rebates come from the general fund, while the supply rebates come from the state's admissions tax charged on amusements such as night clubs, sporting events and movie theaters.
Had the veto been sustained, South Carolina's incentive rates would have dropped to 15 percent for residents' wages and 15 percent for supplies purchased from in-state businesses, instead of remaining at the current rate of 20 percent for wages and 30 percent for supplies, according to the Charleston City Paper.
By comparison, North Carolina offers a 25 percent tax credit on in-state spending for goods and services. And Georgia offers a flat tax credit of 20 percent, plus an additional 10 percent by including a Georgia logo in the finished product. Some states offer even more.
Sanford said he axed the provision because it raised the rates and, in doing so, changed state law and violated legislative rules. "We should not be increasing the incentives we give to Hollywood film companies in a year when we're making such drastic cuts to core government functions," the governor wrote in his veto explanation.
Before Tuesday's vote, the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce asked its members to urge Davis and his colleagues to vote to override the veto. Davis stood with the governor and voted to sustain the veto.
He said proponents had no reply when he asked them about a College of Charleston analysis that showed that for every $1 spent by the state in film-industry rebates, only 19 cents is recovered in general revenue.
"Aside from the fact that it is bad public policy to change/circumvent permanent law through budget proviso, I voted to sustain this veto because (the provision) allows and essentially directs a state agency to spend tax dollars unwisely," Davis wrote in an e-mail. " ... The reason for the proviso was to exempt the film incentive from a scrutiny that its proponents knew it could not meet."
Without the level of incentives offered in the budget provision, the Lifetime drama "Army Wives" might have moved the Charleston-based production out of state.
Catherine Bell and Kim Delaney, two actresses from the show, traveled to the Statehouse on Tuesday to lobby for the incentives. The pair buttonholed several legislators, urging them to keep the show in-state with the incentives.
"The future of the show really rides on it," Bell said. "We would absolutely move."
In a letter to lawmakers, "Army Wives" representatives wrote that the series has contributed more than $120 million in production costs to the local economy since it landed in Charleston in 2006. This year, in filming the fourth season, the show hired 355 employees and 1,101 extras and paid more than $19 million in salaries and wages, the letter states.
