The county attorney believes an agency that used bond proceeds to build a film studio is not legally required to repay the Paulding government for making the past three years’ worth of payments on the financing.
Now, a county commissioner believes the $4 million gained from the studio’s sale to a private film production company should go toward construction of an industrial park to attract other employers to the county.
Atlanta-based Swirl Films on July 19 bought the Hiram studio and its 11-acre site from the Paulding County Industrial Building Authority after Swirl began renting the facility for its TV and movie productions in mid-2018.
County Attorney Jayson Phillips give his opinion Tuesday, Aug. 13, to the Paulding County Commission about the building authority’s obligation to repay the county government for making payments on the bonds the authority issued to build the studio in 2012.
Phillips said his “legal conclusion” is that “there is no express or mandatory legal requirement that the IBA repay Paulding County for those bond payments.” See more at MDJonline.
