State tax breaks
woo movie sets

CLEVELAND » Jim Gelarden has been able to make a living working in an industry he loves, designing movie sets and helping plan television productions around the nation.

Seeing an established movie industry in his home state -- and a chance to work in his native city -- would make his job a lot sweeter. But for now, Gelarden must trade hometown dreams for good-paying gigs to the south.

"Film trucks have wheels so they can go anywhere and right now they're going where the best deals are," said Gelarden, a production designer from Cleveland whose resume includes the movie "Seabiscuit" and commercials for Pizza Hut and Nike. "And the best deals right now are in Louisiana."

As more film productions jump to Canada and other low-cost countries, lawmakers around the nation are taking notice of the lure of Louisiana, which in 2002 began offering a 15 percent rebate on the cost of movie and TV productions valued at $8 million or more.

This year at least 13 other states -- including Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island and South Carolina -- have proposed creating similar incentives, mostly through tax rebates or exemptions, or adding to their existing breaks.

But not everyone is interested in helping lower the price tag of transplanting the bright lights.

Arkansas turned down a bill that would have offered a tax incentive package that was tied to the number of movies a film production company made in the state. Similar legislation was spiked in Texas, Hawaii and Alabama.

Critics are leery of offering tax breaks at a time when many states are dealing with tight budgets and when many lawmakers are trying to simplify tax codes that already include several complex tax breaks for businesses.

Lowell Kalapa, president of the nonprofit Tax Foundation of Hawaii, said his group and others were opposed to the incentives for various reasons, including tight finances and because Hawaii already offers a host of tax breaks for filmmakers, including one on hotel taxes.

"Those of us who were against it were saying, 'We're actually spending money out the back door and you cannot balance the state budget if you continue to have these uncontrollable losses of revenue,'" Kalapa said.

Ultimately Hawaii's United States address, year-round warm, sunny weather and beautiful beaches won over "Lost" producers, who agreed to stay.