Movie theatres traditionally have been a place where the widest possible range of people can leave the worries of everyday life behind and escape to another world – the dimension of the silver screen. During the Great Depression, for example, the movie industry was the one major American industry least affected by economic conditions. Movies have kept the American Dream alive.
The City of Bristol has proposed an entertainment tax that would add in excess of 75 cents to each movie ticket, or four dollars each time a family of four goes to the movies. Not only is this tax regressive, affecting hard-working families looking for entertainment both parents and children can enjoy, but it also puts at risks jobs for the community.
Here are the facts of why this proposal still doesn’t make sense.
FACT: Movie theatres maintain very tight profit margins and contribute to the economy by providing jobs for young workers and seniors and by bringing increased business to nearby restaurants and shops.
FACT: These tight profit margins would likely force theatre management to pass any new taxes onto patrons.
FACT: It may well be counter-productive to tax a business that provides valued economic benefits to the local economy, since a downturn in movie ticket sales might impact the nearby restaurant and retail sectors.
FACT: Movies are still the best entertainment value for your dollar outside of the home. Movie ticket prices have increased the least among all major forms of entertainment over the past decade.
FACT: Three of four families with children attend movies as a form of entertainment.
FACT: Of movie patrons, 59 percent have household income under $65,000, and 27 percent under $35,000, demonstrating that movies are a truly democratic form of entertainment.
FACT: Teenagers as well as one in three people over the age of sixty, both groups with limited disposable income, attend films most regularly. Huge amounts of government funds are spent on programs aimed at these groups, while movies have always provided a more cost-effective form of entertainment.
FACT: Taxes levied on constitutionally protected activities, such as movies and newspapers, have been found by courts to be unconstitutional violations of free speech.
