Fewer People Employed in Michigan Movie Industry Than Before Film Tax Credits Began, According to Center Analyst

Pardon me.. do you have a second?  I just wanted to say…

I told you so.

Or Better yet.. I TOLD YOU SO!

OK.. not exactly it, but a good representation of prognostication with regard to this issue.  But this time with a little twist of lemony puckering.

From the Mac Center:

“MIDLAND — There has been a nearly 10 percent drop in movie industry employment in the state over the past two years since the Michigan film incentive went into effect and doled out  $117 million, according to Mackinac Center Fiscal Policy Analyst James Hohman.

“Film incentive supporters often point to particular jobs generated by the program’s subsidies as evidence of its success,” Hohman said. “But the reality is that the state is redistributing millions of taxpayers’ dollars to one industry that happens to be employing fewer people.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as of September 2009 (the most recent month available)*, there were 5,290 people in Michigan employed under the category of “motion picture and sound recording industries.” In April 2008, when legislation was signed creating the film subsidy program, that same classification reported 5,867 jobs, or 9.8 percent more.

“While the film incentive program has succeeded at making this very small piece of the state’s economy more visible, the actual data shows that it has failed to increase the overall number of film jobs in the state, let alone provide a source of growth for any other industry,” Hohman said.

The film subsidy is estimated to cost $155 million in fiscal 2011, Hohman noted, which is equal to 7 percent of what the Michigan Business Tax extracts from other state businesses.”

And the Oscar for worst story line goes to….