Tuesday, July 31, 2007
On the last day of the session, the Legislature re-enacted and amended the tax credit program for film productions and infrastructure.
The new law more clearly differentiates between tax incentives for things like movie studio construction and actual film productions. It also allows for an appeals process for denied projects. Before, the aggrieved could only sue the state in court.
Most critically, the new law caps tax credits for studio construction at $25 million. The new law also divvies up discretion over construction projects among the state film office, the Division of Administration and the Department of Economic Development. And it empowers the state to amortize tax credits, or spread them over different periods of time for different projects.
The state “was doing that anyway,” says Chuck Bush, the head of the proposed Red Stick Studio development. “Maybe putting it into law makes it more legal. But they’re the government. They’re going to protect the taxpayers.”
The film tax incentive program is likely to remain on the hot seat until the FBI and IRS complete their investigations of New Orleans-based production company LIFT, and a judgment or settlement is rendered in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging bribery of a former state film official.
Larry Thomas, chairman of the East Feliciana Economic Development District, says he’s content with some caveats. “I liked the old law,” Thomas says. “It was great. The problem was the film industry was the only one required to follow it.”
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