IN SHOW BIZ, IT'S THE TAX BREAKS THAT COUNT.

Byline: Ken Ward On Business

It's true - there's no business like show business. And these days, Los Angeles officials are singing that tune with gusto.

Entertainment and multimedia companies in the Hollywood and North Hollywood redevelopment areas currently enjoy a cap on their business license tax, courtesy of City Hall.

Hollywood has been particularly aggressive in using the break to lure new projects and retain existing firms.

Now the L.A. council and Mayor Richard Riordan are looking at extending the cap citywide.

This warms the hearts and pocketbooks of folks in the Southland's glamour industry, and could give San Fernando Valley communities a useful tool in attracting those companies.

``We should have the right to compete with Hollywood,'' says Gary Barr, president of the Woodland Hills Chamber of Commerce.

``Anytime we can lower taxes, that's a good thing,'' agrees Dick Hardman, executive director of the Northridge chamber.

The savings can be substantial. For large companies, L.A.'s annual business license fees are tens of thousands of dollars higher than those in Burbank and other area cities. The tax break makes Los Angeles more competitive.

But the citywide initiative has caught some area business leaders off guard and, privately, they're not sold on it.

They note that by singling out one sector, City Hall is playing favorites, potentially at the expense of other businesses. Indeed, show biz companies already benefit exclusively from a producer's tax break.

Talk of another discount comes as City Hall scrambles to offer a bagful of financial incentives to Price Pfister in hopes of keeping the faucet manufacturer in Pacoima.

Where's that money going to come from?

Certainly, there are thousands of companies that would like tax relief from downtown. But they have neither the political clout nor the corporate chutzpah to force City Hall to meet their needs.

Reactive and special interest-driven policies, as concocted by municipal officials, are tantamount to a shell game. They offer only an illusion of fairness.

As Barr says, ``We need to have a broader plan to make it attractive for all businesses to come and stay here.''

Entrepreneurship is alive and well in Agoura.

Johnathan and Jeremy Murphy, ages 16 and 13, have launched a line of T-shirts with the logo: Mo' Fear.

The clever catch phrase, an obvious send-up to the popular No Fear trademark, carries the self-effacing subscript: Pathetic Gear.

The Murphy brothers' effort is a study in pop culture counterspin. Emblazoning their shirts are these messages:

Losing is not an option . . . it's a way of life.

Never saw an injury I didn't fake.

Ice man . . . I ice my knees, my elbow, my back.

``It's a mockery of all those companies that perpetuate the false `tough guy' myth,'' says Jeremy, an eighth-grader at Medea Creek Middle School.

The Murphys' business is definitely of the boutique variety now, having sold just a couple dozen shirts since developing their idea over the summer. But the boys are meeting with the regional office of Miller's Outpost this month and hope to ink a deal for a whole lot more.

Industrial building space is tightening in the Valley. The vacancy rate has fallen from 12.5 percent last year to 9 percent this year, said Tim Foutz of Capital Commercial in Encino.

While small locations abound, Foutz said that tenants seeking 100,000 square feet or more may have to wait 18 months to get a new building. ``That hasn't happened for a long time,'' he told the California Real Estate Journal.

That's good news for the Voit Cos. project at the old General Motors site. Voit is developing 550,000 square feet of industrial space at the Van Nuys property, and already nearly half has letters of commitment.

Another player is Pacoima's Golden Oak Enterprise Park. The first such speculative project to be built in the Valley in years, the facility will feature ceiling clearances of 28 feet - a rare commodity in newer buildings. ``We talked to Fortune 100 companies before taking on the project,'' said Adam Ratner, of Ratner Property Management Co. ``There is a need for modern 27- to 28-foot clear buildings so they can stack pallets three high rather than only two high.''

Groundbreaking is scheduled for next month.

Looking for a bargain in office space? Check out Palmdale and Valencia.

CB Commercial reports that Palmdale had 18,000 square feet of Class B office space available for an average rate of $1 per square foot. Somewhat surprisingly, upscale Valencia cost a penny less and offered 100,000 square feet in the third quarter.

MEMO: Ken Ward is business editor of the Daily News. He can be reached on the Internet at kenricwardaol.com

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Photo: Thirteen-year-old Jeremy Murphy, left, and his broth er, Johnathan, 16, have created their own line of T-shirts with the logo Mo' Fear.

Tina Gerson/Daily News