By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG – An Associated Press article posted this morning at various Pennsylvania news outlets sings the praises of the state’s Film Tax Credit program and subtly encourages the state to ratchet up the current $60 million annual give-away to Hollywood.
Over the course of about 700 words, the story quotes three sources in support of the tax credit program– they make the usual arguments about how the tax credit lures production companies to Pennsylvania, offering residents of the Keystone State the chance to have a temporary job getting coffee for the “Best Boy” or “Key Grip” or any of those other production jobs that no one actually understands outside of Tinseltown.
Here’s how it works, and what the advocates say:
“The current incentive essentially offers a 25 percent tax credit to productions that spend 60 percent of their budget in Pennsylvania. Capped at $60 million, the program this year is helping to fund eight feature films, one documentary, eight TV episodes, a pair of TV series and one TV pilot.
The credit needs to be at least $100 million, said Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer…
…She noted the state is vying against places like New York and Georgia, which offer 30 percent credits. And New York’s multiyear program — now at $420 million annually — extends through 2014.”
But the article lacks any source questioning the legitimacy of this $60 million tab – though Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester, does make an appearance to point out that basic budgetary needs have to be met before the state can consider increasing the tax credit.
It shouldn’t have been that hard for the AP to find someone to debunk the tax credit program’s effectiveness – even groups that rarely agree on policy can find common ground in the evidence that these tax credits are a waste.
The Associated Press article does accidentally stumble onto a good point though – Keezer tells the news organization that the third installment in the recent Batman trilogy filmed in the Pittsburgh area, bringing with it “thousands” of jobs.
However, the article notes that “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises” did not get any tax credits from the state.
If blockbusters like that are going to film in Pennsylvania without a taxpayer-subsidized incentive, why did we spend $3.3 million to host the filming of “My Bloody Valentine” or $36 million for “The Last Airbender?”
Contact Boehm at Eric@PAIndependent.com and follow @PAIndependent on Twitter
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Let me get this straight, we see gas and oil companies making a profit off a resource in the area and we want to tax them for it (fair enough - impact fees : we may need to beef up some roads and bridges, we may need to plan for accidental spills, we may need to.... give some of that money to places not impacted at all - like philadelphia? ????????????). Yet, now we have this resource (Bucks County) that filmmakers may want to use in order to make a profit, but instead of taxing them for the privilege, we want to give them tax credits? No talk of taxing them more for the added cost of police resources or for the inconvenience of shutting down some sections of the county. No offense to you in the film industry, but do you see the hypocrisy here? I could make the same argument : tax credits would bring in more drilling and more job opportunities for drillers in the state. But we are not talking about credits in my industry. We are talking about squeezing more out of them. Oh that's right, you don't like gas and oil drilling - or the coal industry - after all, look what they did back in the 1970's! Very typical and very much the reason why this country is in the state it is. Let us take from those that can support themselves, and use their money to subsidize those that cannot support themselves.
On the other hand, film productions don't have to come here. For movies and TV, any number of places can double as other places, so we're competing against those other communities/states; you can find a place that looks like historic Bucks County from here on northward to the Canadian border. Anything can be negotiable, and in this case the taxes are negotiated or credits offered beforehand.
Point taken. I would argue that gas and oil companies will go first, where they are taxed the least. However, PA is apparently more generous than I thought with respect to gas and oil companies. I just saw a nickel a gallon promise for 20 years for a refinery being discussed in Pitt.