New Yorkers – and residents of many other states – have paid more for entertainment in recent years than Netflix or Hulu subscriptions.
Every New York household has also contributed about $ 16 to taxes, on average, to the production of the drama series “Billions” since 2017. During this time, every household has also paid about $ 14.50 to production incentives for “Saturday Live” and $ 4.60 for “The Irishman”.
Add all this and New York has spent more than $ 5.5 billion in motivation since 2017, the earliest year for which the data is readily available. Now, as a new state budget agreement approaches, Gov. Kathy Hochul said he wants to add $ 100 million to credits for independent productions that would bring total films to $ 800 million a year, almost twice as much as 2022.
Other states also pay tens or hundreds of millions of a year in a bidding war for Hollywood productions, under the theory that these tax credits are pushing the economy. One question for voters and legislators is whether a state restores more than investing in these films and performances – or only returns the pennies to the dollar.
New York has one of the largest tax programs and makes most of its data, so overall its expenses to see what productions have benefited the most.
Television broadcasts that Multiple Seasons in New York have received most money over time, although the films shot in the state also receive credits:
The basic prerequisite of the incentive program is that for every dollar of special costs from production, either for a camera operator or for costumes, New York will return 30 cents. (He will not return for certain types of expenditure, such as large wages for cinema stars.)
Supporters say jobs are created when productions choose to film in New York. The state also makes at least a few of the money back, both directly (crew members pay taxes) and indirectly (more money spent on craft services means that local supply companies are growing and paying more taxes). The calculation of how much money is refunded is based on a series of cases.
A recent study assigned by the Empire State Development, the agency that manages tax credit, found that for every dollar issued, about $ 1.70 were returned through local or state taxes, which means that the program was profitable to the state.
But many economists say that these programs are defeated by money. A separate study assigned by the New York Ministry of Taxation and Finance appreciated the return of just 31 cents to the dollar.
States are in a match that can be difficult to stop
Two New York State Senators in the Democratic majority, Michael Gianaris and James Skoufis, agree that states It is in a gradual competition to attract productions. They disagree if this game is a New York City should try to win.
“There is a struggle that takes place between the states and so we need to adapt it,” said Gianaris, a majority leader, citing a desire to keep up with increases from New Jersey. “It is constantly a reassessment based on what other jurisdictions do and whether we have to adapt our program to maintain our success.”
Mr. Skoufis wants: “It’s a match at the bottom. The loser is the taxpayer.”
Either way, the struggle between neighbors is heated. In recent years, New Jersey has expanded its program to $ 800 million a year, from $ 100 million in 2021. Some productions have benefited from both states: “departure” He received tax credits for his first season from New Jersey ($ 1.1 million) and New York ($ 39.6 million).
In 2010, New Jersey provided a natural experiment on what happens when a state leaves the struggle, when Governor Chris Christie suspended the state program. He referred to the budget budget and the frustration that “Jersey Shore” – approved for tax credit – the state negatively depicted. The New Jersey film industry has quickly shrunk, though not completely.
A recent research on New York Times incentive programs estimates that states had paid more than $ 25 billion for 20 years. Last year, California’s Gavin Newsom ruled the magnitude of New York’s subsidies when he proposed to increase state tax credit to $ 750 million from $ 330 million.
The New York Development Service faces equally all applicants. Program administrators do not judge whether credit is needed to bring a production to New York. The “Saturday Night Live” and the new CBS process would be both eligible for the same tax credits, even if the latter have much greater flexibility to choose its place.
Productions may boost tourism… for some states
Mr Gianaris, whose area is in the Queens, says that estimates of the value of the New York program do not represent tourism. New York has a “huge tourism economy built around the fact that New York is a character” on television and films, he said. “There is an unbearable impact of this, so I believe that credit is more than the balance sheet.”
To qualify for the program, movies or broadcasts are not required to have their fantastic worlds based in New York. “Pretty Little Liars”, for example, It received $ 30 million in 2024, although history is in Pennsylvania.
But many show that the film in the state makes New York a central part of their programs. Of the 10 productions that have received the most tax credits since 2017, eight are mainly in New York.
The same is not true for each state. In New Jersey, productions receiving tens of millions of dollars in tax relief often put their stories in New York.
Within a situation, the benefits are uneven
Even when states compete for productions, their incentive programs often launch different parts of a state between them.
Mr Skoufis, who represents part of the Hudson valley north of New York, said there are “some established interests that benefit from the trade unions and other stakeholders”. He added, “My colleagues love the sound station in their area.”
Although the program offers an additional 10 percent compensation for productions on New York Upstate, the majority of producers is in New York. In 2024, only 15 % of tax credit went to the productions that were shot outside the city.
New York takes many of the tax dollars in return: a study, which was also entrusted by the Empire State Development, found that the city is almost half the additional tax dollars created by the film’s motives, although it is the state that pays the motivations.
Legislators representing areas where the film industry has been developed have a reason to keep the money that is flowing, even if it does not flow back into state funds.
Justin Marlowe, director of the Center for Municipal Economics of the University of Chicago, said that legislators often make decisions on tax incentives without detailed information. As a result, they often do so carefully about preventing a bad political outcome.
“As a public financial man, I see this and I say that this is not really good for taxpayers that we are playing this silly zero game,” said Professor Marlowe. “And you can’t blame government legislators to play it because they need it, so if they don’t, they suffer from political consequences.”
