The Daily Campus

Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: Commentary

In 2006, Connecticut began offering a film and digital media production tax credit, with the intent of attracting revenue-raising film and television productions to the Nutmeg State. And it's worked! The daytime talk shows "Jerry Springer," "Maury" and "The Steve Wilkos Show," hosted by the former security director of "Springer," are all in talks to move to Stamford.

Obviously, attracting Jerry Springer isn't much to celebrate. And attracting traffic-snarling productions to one of the most densely populated states in the nation was never a great idea.

The film credit is even more indefensible now that Connecticut is facing a budget deficit of up to $8 billion. And, thanks to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, there's finally pretty convincing empirical evidence that the film credit isn't doing the state any favors.

If Gov. M. Jodi Rell really wants to balance the state's budget, the film tax credit - which has already cost the state around $114 million in lost revenue - should be next on the chopping block.

Rell has already proposed capping the annual cost of the credit at $30 million, but that's still $30 million too much. The credit's supporters proudly note that $400 million in film and television production has taken place in the state since 2006. The flip side of that coin is that only $37.8 million of this total was spent at Connecticut businesses.

In a time of massive deficits, the state is offering credits to out-of-state firms to spend money on consultants in Texas and caterers in L.A. Even better, a production company can end up acquiring more credits than taxes owed - and is allowed to then turn around and sell its excess credits to other would-be Connecticut taxpayers!

If the idea of encouraging Nutmeggers to pay their taxes to Hollywood while the state drowns in debt seems like a bad idea, that's because it is. The last thing Connecticut needs right now is less tax revenue - especially when the state has so many investment opportunities that are so much better than the pipedream of the film industry. For example, we wonder if Rell has ever heard of a little place called the University of Connecticut, where every tax dollar spent draws in well over a dollar in tax revenue!

Now, that would be a good place for Rell to drop some dead presidents.

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