(The Center Square) – Increasing the number of films and TV shows shot in Wisconsin is one of three priorities for Wisconsin’s Department of Tourism, Secretary Anne Sayers told the Senate Committee on Utilities, Technology and Tourism.
The others are increasing group travel to the state and outdoor recreation from a department that is hoping for $35 million in funding that was proposed by Gov. Tony Evers in the state’s next budget.
“I know that the Department of Tourism is committed to, if we get this opportunity again, doing it right and really showing that return on investment for our state,” Sayers told the committee. “Just turning on one more revenue stream that adds to that bottom line for tourism but adds to that multi-billion dollars in revenue for our state.”
Senate Bill 231 would re-start a film tax credit worth a maximum $10 million annually in the state along with creating a film office through the department of tourism and adding three full-time staff positions.
The bill has been approved by several committees but has not yet reached the full Assembly or Senate.
The 30% tax credit would apply to income paid to Wisconsin residents up to $250,000 apiece, transferable credits for film-related expenses in the state and credits for acquiring or improving property that wasn’t owned before Dec. 31, 2025.
The state previously had film tax credits until 2013.
“We have lost so much more than we have been able to say yes to because we don’t have those film tax credits and we don’t have staff to be connecting the dots between this very robust industry,” Sayers said. “We’re watching other states continue to be able to grow their film industries and, while we have done what we can, we know we have so much more potential and it feels like this moment where the iron is hot and we must strike, especially coming off of Top Chef.”
In addition to the $10 million in tax credits, the bill would cost $199,300 in financial year 2027 and $254,000 the next year to fund three full-time employees in a film office.
Film credits like those larger credits used in Georgia were supported by the bill’s Wisconsin sponsors and Sayers but have been panned by economists as a tax cost that isn’t worth it for taxpayers.
Economist J.C. Bradbury of Georgia’s Kennesaw State University extensively studied Georgia’s larger film credit program, writing in a peer-reviewed paper that the state spent $230 per household on foregone tax revenue because of the initiative, which has cost taxpayers the equivalent of $110,000 per full-time job in the industry without bringing the promised benefits from the program.
