It’s prosperity for Hollywood – courtesy of New York taxpayers.
Hypocritical left-leaning state politicians are poised to sign much more costly tax breaks for the local film and TV industry, despite progressives recently pushing to scrap what was a fraction of such subsidies proposed for Amazon’s now-abandoned Queens headquarters, according to latest evaluation and critics.
Film and tv breaks now cost New York taxpayers a staggering $66,819 a 12 months for every production job, said Reinvent Albany, a watchdog group that conducted the study.
Contrast that massive figure with the overall $19,329 in subsidies the state and city would pay for a full-time job at Amazon’s Long Island City headquarters, a plan thwarted by liberals ostensibly minding their very own interests.
“It’s complete madness. That is disgusting. It’s complete corporate crap,” said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, referring to Hollywood’s tailor-made tax credits.
In fact, the left-leaning Hollywood titans are huge campaign donors for the NYPD.
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg, for instance, donated a maximum of $47,100 to Governor Kathy Hochul’s campaign last 12 months, along along with his wife Kate Capshaw, after profiting from the state’s tax credit while directing “West Side Story.”
Now, the identical Albany Liberal lawmakers who rejected Amazon’s proposed $3 billion campus project as an excessive amount of of a company gift are about to sign a much larger, 11-year, $7.7 billion film and TV deal under The brand new state budget plan is to be approved on April 1.
Currently, tax credits for movies and TV shows cost the Treasury $420 million a 12 months.
But Governor Hochul’s $227 billion budget proposal would add five additional years to the present six-year program, in addition to increase the taxpayer subsidy from $420 million a 12 months to $700 million a 12 months. Similar proposals were made by each the Democratic-led Assembly and the Senate.
Productions would receive rebates from the state that may increase from 25% to 30% of their total eligible costs.
“Absolutely huge,” said Kaehny.
“Nevertheless, despite the indisputable fact that each film/television commission costs 3 times a couple of [Amazon] HQ2, a few of those self same critics are about to vote for a state budget that features an 11-year handout from New York taxpayers to Hollywood producers, costing a complete of $7.7 billion,” the study reads.
The increased New York Film and Tax Credit would require the taxpayer to reimburse 30 percent of eligible personnel costs incurred by a person or corporate producer.
Reimbursement takes the shape of a tax refund to the producer and is predicated solely on the production expenses shown.
“The taxpayer’s return is ensured whether the production is profitable or a bomb,” reads the evaluation.
State Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), the powerful vice majority whose opposition was instrumental in forcing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to withdraw the e-tail giant’s planned headquarters in Long Island City, had no immediate comment.
Hochul’s office also had no immediate comment.
Its economic development officials have previously defended extending the tax credit to movies and TV shows, saying such a move would protect the state’s 57,000 jobs while making New York more competitive with states like New Jersey as they expand their very own advantages to attract productions.
“The proposed increase within the film tax credit will help grow the film industry and keep New York City competitive on this very essential sector of our economy, which has generated greater than $20 billion in spending and created 57,300 direct and indirect jobs within the Empire State,” said a representative for Empire State Development, which oversees the tax credit, said in a press release to The Post last month.