Ed Sealover at the Denver Business Journal today unveiled that the Colorado Film Commission, a black hole of taxpayer money, has misspent millions of taxpayer funds. We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so. From the DBJ:
“Colorado’s film-incentive program has given money to ineligible projects, promised money that the state didn’t have to give, and agreed to pay producers without the proper submission of paperwork.”
We know it did. How? Because we’ve been complaining about this boondoggle literally for years.
The rationale behind these grants and incentives was that they would bring economic development to Colorado in the form of jobs and spending, but it appears that the state may not have benefited from the program at all.
“When the Film Office pays incentives for productions that do not employ a workforce consisting of at least 50 percent Colorado residents, it is not incentivizing the creation of jobs or state income tax revenue to the extent intended by statute. Similarly, paying incentives for productions that did not reach the minimum qualifying expense level means that the Film Office is not incentivizing spending in Colorado to the extent intended by statute.”
It would be a real shame to make films like this (below) with no economic benefit to anyone but the crazy guy who created it.
Colorado should audit everything.