Letters
I’d like to sympathize with Mitch Albom about the potential cancellation of the Michigan film credit (“Tonight we get out turn on film credits,” Feb. 24), but look, the topic is the state budget — dollars in versus dollars out.
Even if it’s true, as Albom asserts, that every dollar of credit produces $6 of “business activity,” that activity does not come close to replacing the dollar expenditure even if it’s fully subject to tax. Those dollars now going out of state could be used instead for schools or revenue sharing in communities that will never see a klieg light.
Thomas S. Nowinski Grosse Pointe Park
What has Michigan gotten out of the film tax incentive? Well, jobs for one thing. Small businesses are thriving, great word of mouth from celebrities who have enjoyed our part of the world, training for people who had no other options.
Now I ask: What has our state gotten out of putting more money in the pockets of the rich? Nothing.
Bernard Juozapaitis Detroit
Shortsighted cutback
As a retired teacher, I am naturally upset about my pension being taxed. But what is more upsetting are Snyder’s plans to abolish the film industry. I said “abolish” because there is no way that a $25-million tax incentive will keep this industry here.
Snyder proves he is not a visionary. Perhaps we were not reaping the financial benefits yet. But the hope and symbolism of being a film mecca lifted us up and made us proud of our state.
Three years of hard work were wiped out by one man who did not have the foresight to recognize that this industry brought jobs, national recognition and highlighted the beauty of our great state of Michigan. Linda Samelson West Bloomfield
Drastic cuts needed
So Jeff Daniels says the sound we were hearing after Gov. Snyder’s budget announcement was the sound of people packing and leaving the state. Where has he been? They’ve been doing that for the last eight years!
We finally have someone who is not going to ignore the deficit and will try to solve our state’s problems. At this stage, it calls for drastic measures.
John Henegar Jackson
Count the benefits
When we brought the film industry into Michigan, we achieved one of our primary goals — to diversify our economy. Although expensive, it more than paid for itself. Money spent in Michigan by the film industry was close to triple the money spent on incentives. However, much to the chagrin of our bean counters, that money didn’t go directly to the state coffers; it went directly to us — the workers and businesses — and it gave our young, educated people reason to stay here in Michigan and work in a creative industry.
Now it is gone before it even had a chance.
Jeffrey Poling Troy
Film incentives work
A recent study on the incentives given to the film industry in Michigan shows that every $1 spent on these incentives generates $6 for the state. Those incentives for the film industry do work.
John Cipolletti Dearborn Heights
Help all businesses
A lot of the people crying about the loss of film credits in Michigan are probably the same people who rail against tax credits for oil or manufacturing companies. If tax credits are a good idea for moviemakers, they should be a good idea for all types of businesses. The government has no business picking winners and losers among business and industry. All companies (and individuals) should be subject to the same tax rates.
Gregory Jablynski Hamtramck
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