Baton Rouge could follow in the footsteps of other Louisiana cities and parishes to establish a local film industry sales tax rebate program in an attempt to draw more television and movie productions to the area.
An ordinance up for introduction at today’s Metro Councilman meeting would offer the rebate to pre-approved productions meeting certain criteria. If the proposal by Councilman Ryan Heck is approved, a public hearing and vote on the program would be placed on the Nov. 9 agenda.
The ordinance has been in the works for nearly a year, says Heck, adding that it’s being modeled after similar ordinances in Lafayette, Caddo, St. Bernard and other parishes. Heck says the rebate would cover lodging, payroll and other production expenditures.
Lafayette Parish offers a 2% sales tax rebate to productions based in the parish if they also qualify for the state’s 30% to 35% tax incentive. Shreveport offers a 2.5% sales tax rebate to productions for expenditures inside the city limits and a 1.5% sales tax rebate on expenses that occur outside of the city limits. St. Bernard Parish offers a 3.5% rebate.
Heck says the Baton Rouge rebate program would be scaled according to the size of the film’s budget, and would include per-film and total annual caps.
He says the lack of a local rebate program puts the city-parish at a competitive disadvantage.
“When the studios do their value analysis, we are at a disadvantage compared to New Orleans and the other parishes that have similar local ordinances,” Heck says. “This just levels the playing field when compared to our peer cities.”
Celtic Studios Director Patrick Mulhearn says he hasn’t seen the numbers yet, but he hopes the rebate will help level the field for Baton Rouge.
“It’s something that’s kind of long overdue,” he says.
Unlike New Orleans and Shreveport, Mulhearn adds, Baton Rouge is not a designated production center as defined in the Theatrical and Television Motion Picture Area Standards Agreement. Thirty-six cities and metro areas around the nation have the status. Individuals who reside within 60 miles of a designated production center are treated as local hires and are less expensive to employ.
Productions aren’t expected to pay housing and per diems for union crews that work in designated production centers, Mulhearn says. In other words, a Baton Rouge production would pay more to employ someone from New Orleans than a New Orleans production would pay to employ someone from Baton Rouge, he says.
“Unfortunately, it’s caused a huge workforce issue,” Mulhearn says. “Basically, people are moving to New Orleans to live and work there. We’ve been at a competitive disadvantage for years.”
The film industry in Louisiana has seen a significant slowdown since lawmakers last year limited the amount of tax credits that can be redeemed in a single fiscal year to $180 million. Read a recent Business Report cover story on the state of the industry since the tax credit cap was enacted.
—Alexandria Burris
