New Yorkers – and residents of many other states – have paid more for entertainment in recent years than just their Netflix or Hulu subscriptions.
Each household in New York has also contributed to about $ 16 in taxes to producing the drama series “billions” since 2017. In that period, each household also paid around $ 14.50 for production stimuli for “Saturday Night Live” and $ 4.60 for “The Irishman”, in addition to many other shows and films.
Add it all and New York has spent more than $ 5.5 billion on stimuli since 2017, the earliest year for which data is immediately available. Now, like a new one State budget agreement Additional, Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that she wants to add $ 100 million to credits for independent productions that would yield total film subsidies up to $ 800 million per year, almost double the amount from 2022.
Other states also pay tens or hundreds of millions every year in a bidding war for Hollywood productions, under the theory that these tax credits stimulate the economy. A question for voters and legislators is whether a state is retiring more than its investment in these films and shows – or only get money on the dollar.
New York has one of the largest tax credit programs and makes it public most of its data, so we have the expenditure in total to see which productions have benefited the most.
Television shows that have received film for several seasons in New York over time, although films filmed in the state also receive credits:
The starting point of the stimulation program is that for each dollar on qualified expenses by a production, either for a camera operator or costumes, New York will reimburse 30 cents. (It will not reimburse for some types of expenses, such as large salaries for movie stars.)
Proponents say that jobs are made when productions choose to film in New York. The State also makes back at least part of the money, both direct (crew members pay tax) and indirectly (more money spent on traditional services means that local catering companies grow and pay more taxes). Calculating how much money is returned is based on a series of assumptions.
A recent study Commissioned by Empire State Development, the agency that manages the tax credit found that around $ 1.70 was returned for each dollar distributed through local or national taxes, which means that the program was profitable for the state.
But many economists say that these programs are money losers. A separate study Commissioned by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance estimated a declaration of only 31 cents on the dollar.
States are in a race that can be difficult to stop
Two senators of the state of New York in the Democratic majority, Michael Gianaris and James Skoufis, agree that states are in an escalating competition to attract productions. They do not agree whether that game is a New York, should try to win.
“There is a race that takes place between the States and that is why we have to adjust it,” said Mr. Gianaris, the deputy majority leader, with reference to the desire to keep the increase in New Jersey. “It is constantly a re -evaluation based on what other areas of law do and whether we should adjust our program to maintain our success.”
Mr. Skoufis wants to get out: “It’s a race to the bottom. The loser is the taxpayer.”
Anyway, the race between neighbors is warming up. New Jersey has in recent years extensively The program up to $ 800 million a year, an increase of $ 100 million in 2021. Some productions have benefited from both states: “Dismissal” received tax credits for the first season from New Jersey ($ 1.1 million) and New York ($ 39.6 million).
In 2010, New Jersey offered a natural experiment with what happens when a state leaves the race, when the Government Chris Christie suspended the state’s program. He mentioned budgetary worries and frustration that “Jersey Shore” – approved for a tax credit – displays the state negatively. The film industry of New Jersey Kromp quickly, although not entirely.
A recent study into stimulation programs by the New York Times estimated Those states had paid more than $ 25 billion in 20 years. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom from California quoted The size of New York’s subsidies when he proposed to increase the tax credits of his state to $ 750 million from $ 330 million.
The New York development agency treats all applicants equally. The managers of the Program Fellen no judgment on whether a credit is needed to bring a production to New York. “Saturday Night Live” and a new CBS procedural would both be eligible for the same tax credits, even if it has much more flexibility to choose the location.
Productions can stimulate tourism … For some states
Mr. Gianaris, whose district is in Queens, says that estimates of the value of the New York program do not take tourism into account. New York has built a “massive tourist economy around the fact that New York is a character” in TV and films, he said. “There is an immeasurable impact thereof, so I think the credit is more than just the balance.”
To be eligible for the program, films or shows are not obliged to have their fictional worlds in New York. “Pretty Little Liars,” for example, received a credit of $ 30 million in 2024, although the story takes place in Pennsylvania.
But show a lot that film makes New York a central part of their programs. Of the 10 productions that have received most tax credits since 2017, eight are mainly in New York.
The same does not apply to every state. In New Jersey, productions that have tens of millions of dollars in tax benefits often received their stories in New York.
Within a state, the benefits are uneven
Even while states compete for productions, their stimulation programs often place different parts of a state against each other.
Mr. Skoufis, who is part of the Hudson Valley, north of New York City, said that there are “some deep -rooted interests that benefit from the program – trade unions and other stakeholders.” He added: “My colleagues love sound interns in their district.”
Although the program offers an extra reimbursement of 10 percent to the productions in Upstate New YorkA majority of productions is in New York City. In 2024, only 15 percent of the tax credits went to productions that were filmed outside the city.
New York City gets many of the tax dollars in exchange: one studyAlso on behalf of Empire State Development, found that the city receives almost half of the extra tax dollars generated by the film stimuli, although it is the state that pays the stimuli.
Legislers who represent areas where the film industry has thrive have a reason to make the money flow, even if it does not all flood back to the state treasury.
Justin Marlowe, director of the Center for Municipal Finance of the University of Chicago, said that legislators often make decisions about tax stimuli without detailed information. As a result, they often do this with a view to preventing a poor political result.
“As a public financial person, I look at this and say that this is really not good for taxpayers that we play this foolish zero sum game,” said Professor Marlowe. “And you can’t blame state laws for playing because they have to, right? If they don’t, they have political consequences.”
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