Arizona Fight over Half-Cent Sales Tax Threatens Semiconductor Expansion

This is a two way street, err track. A good chunk of those "wrong people" don't want the rich neighborhoods well connected to them either because then their cost of living goes up and they are forced out and very rarely does that story end with "and my new apartment/commute/job was better". The property owners are the ones who really want the government money spent developing their area.

The really stupid thing about the light rail system, at least in the east valley, is that they could have run a line right up the middle of the 101 from South Chandler to North Scottsdale. Add a bus-fed stop every couple of miles, and that train would likely be packed every day with commuters. Instead, we added a carpool lane that does basically nothing for traffic, and the light rail continues to be basically useless for most people.

I have lots of impressions, too. If I want them followed in a business deal I need to put them in the contract.

It’s not like they had any other choice. They came to Phoenix because the only other cutting edge fab in the world is in Phoenix. Since their people will be on the other side of the planet, TSMC will need that Phoenix talent pool to have any hope of spinning up their American fab.

> geographical sense in putting a fab in Arizona

Geologically stable and proximate to rail and truck junctures.

Water supposedly isn't much of an issue after initial setup due to a high recycle rate. Trucking a shitload of water out initially should be a drop in the bucket as far as costs go.

It's a lot of water to get going but almost all of it is re-used after that point

Absolutely. where the TSMC plant is going there are several things that make it perfect for a fab (I'm a little biased, since I drive by it quite frequently):

- Phoenix is in located inside a water district, meaning there are many restrictions on water usage and an extremely conservative approach to resource management. Fun fact, many of the wells in our area show increases in water [1] to the aquifer from the lows of the 70's/80's (meaning we are putting more water into the aquifer than we are taking out). Additionally, there is a large artificial lake reservoir and the central arizona project canal runs right by the site. Like others have mentioned, the vast majority of the water gets recycled.

- There is an existing high-tech manufacturing base (lots of aerospace, defense and semiconductor infrastructure).

- There is great transportation. There is a suitable airport (KDVT) ~5 miles from the new TSMC plant, which can accommodate jets capable of international flights (for example to taiwan) if they need to fly wafers to offsite packaging. Additionally, I10, I17 and I40 are all readily accessible.

- There is plenty of space for expansion. The site that TSMC located in has a massive amount of space for expansion, its essentially 5 minutes from town, but has miles of open area that can be utilized for future needs.

[1] - https://www.azwater.gov/gwsi/Hydrograph.aspx?SiteID=33384411...

Low risk of natural disasters, cheap land, proximity to Taiwan, and existing semiconductor suppliers and workforce. Water is religiously recycled so once the plant is 'full' it doesn't use much ongoing.

But this isn't exactly "global corporations" asking taxpayers to foot the bill for plant equipment or whatever, it's them asking the taxpayers to fund public works projects, which seems to be firmly the responsibility of the government to provide.

This is a 40 year old tax, in what way is this an increase? Also this is earmarked specifically for transportation so it has to be spent on things like roads, highways, and mass transit.

If you think sales tax is too high lower the “slush fund” taxes that get tossed around for political favors and empire building.

Uhhh...

> Efforts to pass another version of the plan are creating a fissure between Arizona’s business community and these Republicans, and have prompted some pro-business conservatives to join with Democrats and lobbyists for corporations to push for the tax’s renewal.

Seems like dogmatic opposition to taxes is ruining everything.

No, I'm a mega billion dollar corporation that wants to use taxpayer dollars, in fact I demand taxpayer dollars to expand my footprint and profits. Yes, yes, let's blame taxes and not greed.