Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Duker who wrote (27963)	2/2/1999 8:55:00 AM
From: Kunal Taravade	Respond to of 70976

AMAT price target = $100 says Analyst For full story please follow this link: cbs.marketwatch.com Thanks, Kunal

To: Duker who wrote (27963)	2/2/1999 9:03:00 AM
From: Jeffrey D	Respond to of 70976

While in Portland yesterday I found the following in The Oregonian newspaper. Intel wants to get a tax break of 12.5B for capital spending planned under Oregon's Strategic Investment Program. According to the story, the bulk of the money will be for manufacturing equipment and Intel's biggest tax break will come if they spend the money immediately. All sounds great to me. Jeff << Intel tax plan promises to stir up debate Critics might question the chip-maker's unprecedented request for a property-tax break on $12.5 billion in future spending Monday, February 1, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Elisa Williams of The Oregonian staff Intel Corp. is angling for a property-tax break on $12.5 billion in future spending that could take the state's Strategic Investment Program where it's never been before. That has some critics in the Legislature and elsewhere worried and increases the likelihood of heated debate in Washington County. The investment Intel seeks to protect is three times the size of the state's largest SIP tax-break contract to date. Intel also is expected to ask for unprecedented levels of flexibility in how and when it will spend the money. And it wants a deal that won't be tied to specific job creation guarantees, unlike past SIP contracts. Intel is sure to realize millions of dollars in savings from an SIP contract on an investment this large. Its two existing contracts, which cover plans for about $3 billion in investment, have saved the company about $14.1 million in property taxes, according to county records. The bulk of the future spending will be on manufacturing equipment that will keep plants in Aloha and Hillsboro up to date, said plant manager Steve Grant, who is spearheading the company's tax-break proposal. That future investment will help retain the 11,000 jobs it has created in Washington County, Grant said. Critics of SIP contracts, such as state Rep. Bill Witt, R-Cedar Mill, argue that no evidence suggests that chip- makers such as Intel wouldn't invest in Oregon without a tax break. Intel counters that its actions prove otherwise. About a third of Intel's new jobs and two-thirds of its capital spending in Oregon have taken place since 1994 when it secured two tax-break deals in Washington County. Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., makes the chips that run about 85 percent of personal computers and is Oregon's largest industrial employer. Intel executives will hold their first fact-finding meeting with Washington County officials Thursday. This get-together is expected to help frame the proposal the company eventually makes. With no proposal in hand, Washington County officials say it's difficult to estimate the amount of money Intel could save by protecting its $12.5 billion through a single tax-incentive program. One reason is that the timing of Intel's spending is crucial in determining its savings because of the way the math works on SIP contracts. The program caps the assessed value of an investment at $100 million the first year with incremental increases of 3 percent In the assessed value each year thereafter. In exchange for capping the amount of investment that is taxed, the company pays a community service fee equal to 25 percent of the property taxes saved, to a maximum of $2 million. With the current rules, the more a company invests through an SIP contract in its first year, the more it saves. The biggest tax break possible would come "if they invested the $12.5 billion all at once," said Art Ayre of Oregon's Economic Development Department. >>