Generally any business that is impacted even slightly is well compensated. I know when filming swing vote in New Mexico, a check for 2000 dollars was cut to every resident of the trailer park that was filmed in for three days.
On grown ups the production built a new baseball field for the community for letting them park trailers on there old one. On Men In Black we were all over Manhattan and would pay a business 2500 a day to let us use their phone lines...on top of anu money that was paid for impacting business.
If businesses on the square are being impacted, they are being nicely compensated too.
Yes, film is here for the tax credits. what's wrong with that? There are over 30 productions going in the Atlanta area right now with more coming in every day. Film is bringing billions into the state, not to mention the thousands of jobs that come with these productions.
The issue is the hypocrisy. These are liberals that demand we pay more in taxes, but yet they do everything in their power to avoid paying taxes.