From “Carol” to “The Old Man and the Gun,” Cincinnati has been featured in a slew of movies thanks to a tax break Ohio gives to productions doing business here.
But lawmakers in the Ohio House of Representatives voted to eliminate that tax break in the state’s two-year budget. Instead, they want to cut income tax rates.
“We shouldn’t try to pick winners and losers,” said Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford in Perry County. “What we should try to do is set a balanced field out there.”
The liberal-leaning Policy Matters Ohio and conservative Buckeye Institute have both called the break a waste of taxpayer money.
But proponents of the tax breaks say they bring business to Ohio. Film Cincinnati wrote that eliminating the credit would be a “grave error.”
A recent study from the University of Cincinnati Economics Center found $3.69 was spent in the Cincinnati area for every $1 contributed in tax breaks. Statewide, for every dollar put into the program, Ohioans see a $1.98 return. See more here.
