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| Cities in the moviemaker business | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 15 2009, 02:11 PM (221 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Aug 15 2009, 02:11 PM Post #1 |
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EDITORIAL: Why is struggling state subsidizing moviemakers? August 13, 2009 At a time when Michigan government is cutting school funding, laying off state troopers and even closing its offices to give state employees six unpaid furlough days, why are we still subsidizing Hollywood moviemakers? Worse yet, this subsidy for filmmakers has somehow become the one sacred cow in the state budget process that everyone is refusing to talk about. Ask a Republican in this state why the film subsidy isn't being considered for budget cutting, and you'll be told that it is Gov. Jennifer Granholm's special pet program. It was her baby, so it isn't even on the table. We understand Republicans are in the minority in state government; what we don't understand is why the opposition party is afraid to point out the fact that the boondoggle has no clothes. The state initiated its film industry incentive tax credit last year, which doesn't just trim the amount of taxes that moviemaking companies owe, it actually reimburses them for up to 42 percent of the cost of their operations in Michigan. As a result, the state wrote checks worth $48 million to filmmakers for 35 movies shot here last year. That figure is only expected to get bigger this year. Meanwhile, the state is looking for all kinds of places to cut. State workers were just given unpaid furloughs for six days to balance the current-year budget. Each furlough day is estimated to save $22 million. Compare that to the $48 million we are giving the movie moguls. The state Senate recently proposed cutting school funding foundation allowances for the coming year by $110 per pupil. Needless to say, that's a major hit to local school districts and is expected to send a number of schools into a real financial tailspin. The cut will save the state $174 million. One Senate Fiscal Agency analyst has estimated cost of the film credit will grow to as much as $150 million this year. That's almost a direct trade. Which do you want to do — maintain current school funding levels or subsidize Hollywood? Recently, the state laid off 104 state troopers to save the state budget $1.7 million ... just a fraction of what we are spending to promote movie making. We just don't understand that. There has been a lack of information about how the credit is applied, about the lack of transparency in the Michigan Film Office. Under the legislation that created this credit, the office and the tax credit were exempted from the Freedom of Information Act. So information has been sparse. For all the money state taxpayers have poured into this program already, there is little information about what the film companies have actually spent in Michigan, on what, with whom. While the film office has given us a number for the jobs supposedly created, no information has been given about how long those jobs have lasted, what they were paid and what kinds of jobs they were. If the state doesn't want to tell taxpayers how their money is being spent, fine, just cut the program. Let's put the priorities back on those services the state should be providing ... not subsidizing the starmaker machinery. http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20090813/OPINION/908130340/1202/NEWS12/EDITORIAL++Why+is+struggling+state+subsidizing+moviemakers? |
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