Movie Subsidies Still Breathing

The film tax credit bill (aka subsidies for movie producers) is still alive, even if barely.  Seems some in the legislature are sympathetic to Sen. John Nelson’s desire to ensure one industry become the beneficiary of massive tax breaks at the expense of everyone else.  It’s too bad.

There is absolutely no reason for this bill to move.  This subsidy has yet to receive even a simply majority of Republican support in any forum it has been in. It only received 7 votes among the Senate’s 21 Republicans.  The bill never even got a vote in the House because it could not garner one Republican vote in the committee to which it was assigned.

Given that the GOP controls both the House and the Senate, they should inform Senator Nelson to pick up another cause.

 

Club Opposes New Property Tax

The Club opposed HB2060, which would have allowed Paradise Valley and Litchfield Park (among other small towns) to implement a new property tax.

The bill, pushed by the town of Paradise Valley, initially would have allowed the Town Council to implement the tax without a vote of the people.  A subsequent amendment required a public vote, but that change simply wasn’t enough to garner our support.

Property taxes in Arizona are subject to limits on how much taxes can increase.  This bill would have placed this tax outside those constitutional limits.