Albuquerque Journal (Subscription) - The amount of film rebates approved by New Mexico plunged during the just-completed budget year, the first year since the state imposed a $50 million-a-year cap on the controversial incentives. Finance and Administration Secretary Tom Clifford this week attributed the drop in film incentives to an industry-wide slowdown and a rush to file rebate claims before last year’s new law took effect, though others point to different reasons. “What we did by capping the film credit is scare off business,” Sen. John Sapien, D-Corrales, said during a legislative hearing Wednesday in Rio Rancho. A total of 85 film rebate applications totaling nearly $19.2 million were approved during the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the Taxation and Revenue Department. In addition, 27 applications that add up to more than $14.1 million in rebates were still pending as of the fiscal year’s end. Those numbers fall far short of the $102 million the state paid out during the 2011 fiscal year, the final year before implementation of the annual cap and other new restrictions, which were supported by Gov. Susana Martinez. Martinez and others claimed the film incentives – which offer a 25 percent rebate to film companies for most direct, in-state expenditures – were “Hollywood subsidies” that cost the state money that could otherwise be spent on public education. Read More News New Mexico
New Mexico Film Rebates Plunged in Fiscal Year
Albuquerque Journal (Subscription) - The amount of film rebates approved by New Mexico plunged during the just-completed budget year, the first year since the state imposed a $50 million-a-year cap on the controversial incentives. Finance and Administration Secretary Tom Clifford this week attributed the drop in film incentives to an industry-wide slowdown and a rush to file rebate claims before last year’s new law took effect, though others point to different reasons. “What we did by capping the film credit is scare off business,” Sen. John Sapien, D-Corrales, said during a legislative hearing Wednesday in Rio Rancho. A total of 85 film rebate applications totaling nearly $19.2 million were approved during the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the Taxation and Revenue Department. In addition, 27 applications that add up to more than $14.1 million in rebates were still pending as of the fiscal year’s end. Those numbers fall far short of the $102 million the state paid out during the 2011 fiscal year, the final year before implementation of the annual cap and other new restrictions, which were supported by Gov. Susana Martinez. Martinez and others claimed the film incentives – which offer a 25 percent rebate to film companies for most direct, in-state expenditures – were “Hollywood subsidies” that cost the state money that could otherwise be spent on public education. Read More News New Mexico
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