It’s welfare for Hollywood — courtesy of Recent York’s taxpayers.
Hypocritical lefty state pols are poised to log out on much more costly tax breaks for the local film and TV industry, despite progressives recently pushing to nix what amounted to a fraction of such subsidies proposed for Amazon’s now-aborted headquarters in Queens, in keeping with a latest evaluation and critics.
Film- and TV-related breaks currently cost Recent York taxpayers a staggering $66,819 for every production job annually, said Reinvent Albany, the watchgroup that conducted the study.
Compare that whopping figure to the full $19,329 in subsidies that the state and city would have paid per full-time job for Amazon’s headquarters in Long Island City, a plan thwarted by liberals allegedly searching for their very own interests.
“This is totally insane. That is gross. It is a complete corporate boondoggle,” said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, referring to the Hollywood-tailored tax breaks.
In fact, left-leaning Hollywood titans are big campaign donors to Recent York pols.
For instance, filmmaker Steven Spielberg contributed the utmost $47, 100 to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign last 12 months along along with his wife Kate Capshaw, after benefiting from the state’s tax credit while directing the flick “West Side Story.”
Film production trucks arrange in Manhattan on March 25, 2023.Robert Miller
Now the identical liberal Albany lawmakers who rejected the proposed $3 billion Amazon campus project as an excessive amount of of a company giveaway are about to log out on the much larger, 11-year, $7.7 billion film and TV deal as a part of the brand new state budget plan slated to be approved April 1.
Currently, film and TV tax credits cost the state treasury $420 million per 12 months.
But Gov. Hochul’s $227 billion budget proposal would add five additional years to the prevailing six-year program in addition to increase the taxpayer subsidy from $420 million per 12 months to $700 million per 12 months. Each the Democratic-run Assembly and Senate offered similar proposals.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal includes additional tax breaks to the film and TV industry in Recent York.Matthew McDermott
Productions would see rebates from the state increase from 25% to 30% of their total eligible costs.
“Absolutely humongous,” Kaehny said.
“Yet, despite each film/TV job costing 3x greater than an [Amazon] HQ2 job, a few of these same critics are about to vote for a state budget that features a 11-year handout from NY taxpayers to Hollywood producers costing a complete of $7.7 billion,” the study said.
The increased Recent York film and tax credit will call for a taxpayer reimbursement for 30 percent of eligible personnel costs incurred by a person or corporate producer.
Progressive lawmakers like state Sen. Michael Gianaris are set to pass the tax breaks despite opposing similar subsidies for Amazon’s proposed facility in Queens.AP Photo/Hans Pennink
The reimbursement is distributed in the shape of a tax refund to the producer and is predicated solely on reported production expenses.
“The taxpayer reimbursement is provided no matter whether a production is profitable or a bomb,” the evaluation said.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), the powerful deputy majority leader whose opposition was instrumental in forcing Amazon honcho Jeff Bezos to withdraw the e-tail giant’s planned headquarters in Long Island City, had no immediate comment.
Hochul’s office had no immediate comment, either.
Her economic-development officials previously defended the expansion of the film and TV tax credit, saying such a move would protect 57,000 jobs within the state while making Recent York more competitive against such states as Recent Jersey as they expand their very own advantages to lure productions.
“The proposed enhancement of the film tax credit will grow the film industry and keep Recent York competitive on this very vital sector of our economy which has generated over $20 billion in spending and created 57,300 direct and indirect jobs within the Empire State,” a rep for Empire State Development, which oversees the tax credit, said in a press release to The Post last month.
