I don't condone any wasteful spending in gov't. Whether it be films or stadiums. The question here is why do you support one of them that is clearly wasteful?
I obviously disagree that it is wasteful compared to the employment advantages and revenue that it supplied to the state of North Carolina. I can easily point to another 20 tax credits in our state which are obviously wasteful and don't generate any additional revenue. Why do the state Republicans support all of these other tax credits, and want to eliminate the film industry tax credit? The film tax credit generated more jobs and economic activity in our state than all the other state tax credits combined.
Your statement about jobs and economic activity is based on projections. Projections that other states have found to be 100% wrong. When the bible says to live by faith, it means faith in God. Not phony film industry financial projections.
The statement is based on the results released by the North Carolina Department of Revenue every year. Let's walk through the information again... The audit is performed by the North Carolina Department of Revenue regarding the film spending showing the qualifying spending which received tax credits. Here is the 2012 audit report - http://dornc.com/publications/incentives/2013/01film_credits_12summary.pdf Here is the 2013 audit report - http://www.dornc.com/publications/incentives/2014/film_2013_summary_report.pdf 2014 is not out yet. Also here is the summary from the North Carolina Commerce Department. http://s3.amazonaws.com/site-docs/cj/film-impact.pdf Here is a summary from the Under The Dome economic impact - http://nchollywood.com/2014/10/10/under-the-dome-will-return-to-north-carolina-for-season-3/ "In 2013, audit reports by the North Carolina Department of Revenue show the series had a direct in-state spend of more $33.3 million while employing a total of 1500 individuals." Here is a mid-2014 article from the News & Observer New reports show effect of sweetened subsidy for film industry in NC http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/30/3824068_new-reports-show-effect-of-sweetened.html?rh=1 At this point, it is obvious that 4000 jobs in North Carolina have been lost directly due to the elimination of the film tax credit. Those jobs averaged $53,000 per year in income. This represents a loss of $212,000,000 of taxable income in our state. With a 5.8% income tax rate this represents a loss of $12,296,000 of revenue to the state of North Carolina. I won't mention that we are now also paying all of these people unemployment.
The dept of revenue audit, as you stated in this post, shows qualifying spending, not return on investment numbers that are the basis of the states investment. I'll bet the dept has qualifying spending numbers for the stadiums, too. But you don't like that. Either you are purposely evading the issue, or you do not understand accounting.
You are avoiding all the articles and references that have full information. The Film Tax Credit has been one of the most beneficial to North Carolina in terms of the number of jobs, and the additional tax revenue from income & sales tax. The numbers outlining the lost state income tax revenue from the 4000 jobs that disappeared make this very obvious. Are you making the claim that all the all the other state tax credits are provide more revenue than the Film Tax Credit? None of them do. Here is a general rule of thumb, tax credits which attract industries to move to the state and provide new jobs and income are beneficial. Tax credits that simply reward particular niche industries that already reside in the state (such as Optometrists) and do not cause job losses when removed are bad. Tax credits and direct cash to individual companies that re-locate to the state are bad because they "pick winners" (by preferring new company A over company B in the same industry that already resides in the state) and over 90% of the time the companies never live up to their commitments after taking the cash. When it comes to sports, bond money that builds parks for amateur sports teams use for tournaments (attracting thousands of families from out of town to stay in hotels & eat) provide positive tax revenue. Ridiculously expensive stadiums and give-aways to professional sports teams never payback in terms of additional tax revenue to cover the costs of the give-away - but may make the community feel good about having a pro team.
I agree that the republicans were foolish not to accept the film industry's numbers. If you can't trust Hollywood, who can you trust? Ironically, that same film industry made a movie about this. It involved a musical man who sold band uniforms. Seriously gwb, you're no doubt right that antipathy toward the film industry probably was the motivation here. What's wrong with that? Maryland enacted burdensome anti-gun laws last year. The venerable firm of Beretta decided to move out of the state as a result. The legislators basically said "good riddance" to them and their good jobs in a poor part of the state. If conservatives in NC don't want to subsidize the film industry, it's their choice.
For the record let me state that when Maryland enacted burdensome anti-gun laws last year forcing Beretta to move out of the state - it was another example of state-level financial incompetence - where the politics are more important than the financial reality. The situation with the film tax credits in North Carolina is similar - somehow the state Republicans believed that their hate for Hollywood was more important than $1 Billion in economic money in our state. Now North Carolina is paying the consequences in 2015, every movie and TV show has left the state.
All the film and TV production is leaving the state now that the North Carolina has stopped tax credits... This has caused the lost of over 6,000 full time jobs and over 25,000 part time jobs by residents of our state. The cost of unemployment being paid out will be more than the tax credits by at least $10 million -- on the top of the loss of over $300 million of taxable salary income in our state. The situation is being described as a complete economic disaster caused by the state government. This is the same state government whose representatives stated that they were cutting the film tax credit not because it made economic sense, but because they hated liberal Hollywood & the industry. (the background story on the state government conservative hate of film in N.C. - http://www.elitetrader.com/et/index...to-a-smoking-ruin.285208/page-18#post-4087770) Wilmington went from an upcoming thriving film location to being a ghost-town. The state now does not have a single pending film or TV production that will be in North Carolina for 2016 - down from several hundred in 2013. The latest to leave is "Under the Dome"... you can now go buy the stuff from the set. Shopping 'Under the Dome' as TV show prepares to move http://www.wral.com/shopping-under-the-dome-as-tv-show-prepares-to-move/14859693/ Everything must go, including some kitchen sinks. The CBS television show "Under the Dome" will be moving out of North Carolina if it's renewed for a fourth season. Multiple media outlets reported that items from the program went on sale Thursday at the Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington. The sale was to continue Friday and Saturday with prices dropping each day. There are paintings, children's toys,. Books, household items, medical supplies, lamps and large furniture. Set decorator Thurston Edwards says there are even a few kitchen sinks for sale. The science fiction show is based on the novel by the same name by Stephen King.