The Associated Press
SALEM —
Trying to entice more Hollywood movie-makers to Oregon, members of the state
House of Representatives have approved legislation that would offer a big tax
break on films made in the state.
Oregon
has played host to big-budget movies in the past, from "The Ring 2",
which was filmed in Astoria, to Kevin Costner’s apocalyptic dud "The
Postman," which was made in Central Oregon.
But the state often loses out to locations like Louisiana, New
Mexico and Vancouver, B.C., that have gone all out to attract movies, and the
good-paying jobs they can bring.
Legislation
approved by the House would offer big-budget projects a rebate worth the state
income taxes that would have been paid for labor on the project.
"We
have all the right things in Oregon except the incentives that other states
have that have pulled these productions away," said Rep. Vicki Berger,
R-Salem.
Only
projects that spend more than $1 million would be eligible for the new credit.
The
incentive will at least help Oregon get a foot in the door when advance teams
start calling, said Veronica Rinard, executive director of the Oregon Film
& Video Office, a four-person semi- independent state agency in Portland.
Sixteen states offer incentives for film projects, she said.
During
the 1990s, the state attracted $30 million a year in television, commercial and
feature-film work but that has dwindled to about $10 million annually.
The
legislation was written to have no impact on other parts of the state budget,
Rinard said, because there won’t be rebates unless the million-dollar projects
come to Oregon. And those projects seldom consider Oregon anymore, she said.
The
labor rebate will be about 6 percent of the cost of labor on a project, which
is what analysts believe would be the income taxes paid by film crews.
Instead
of going to the general fund, the income tax dollars from workers on those projects
would go to a holding account. If the verified costs at the end of production
exceed $1 million, the state would send a rebate check.