Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 45

SPECIAL TOPICS monday PERSONAL COMPUTING Tuesday PERSONAL FINANCE THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 30, 1998 Thursday MARKETPLACE Friday DIGITAL DESERT Saturday -REAL ESTATE Sunday -INVESTING WORKPLACE Senior Editor, Les Polk 444-4813 les.polkpni.com 3 -J JtZ-x II JtJ. REPUBLIC TICKER Eowl i a Mesta four hotelier; Fans fill rooms during slow time of year IwPACT Financial benefit of '98 Fiesta Bowl The championship game between Nebraska and Florida had an overall economic impact of $96.8 million including: $42.2 million in visitor expenditures $9.3 million spent by the Fiesta Bowl committee and other groups in staging the game and related events $45.3 million in indirect expenditures Other effects: $8.5 million in state and local tax revenue $7.5 million in visitor expenditures for lodging $7.6 million for meals and beverages $7 million for entertainment $5.7 million for shopping $167 per person daily expenditures for visitors 1,985 jobs (full-time equivalent) Source: Arizona State University College of Business By Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic For all the greenbacks they will spend, Arizonans should welcome Tennessee fans singing Rocky Top and the Florida State faithful whooping it up with their war chant. To the uninitiated, those collegiate battle cries can fray the nerves, but local hoteliers and other tourist-related businesses like the sound of ringing cash registers associated with Fiesta Bowl visitors to the tune of $100 million. That's how much Fiesta Bowl officials estimate the championship SMALL BUSINESS i college football game Monday and all the associated festivities will pump into Arizona's economy. The 1996 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, a championship game between Nebraska and Florida, contributed $96.8 million to the local economy, according to an economic impact study that the Arizona State University College of Business completed for the bowl.

A skeptical economics professor thinks that figure is inflated, but hotel managers say there's no disputing the fact that the game brings a surge in visitors at a time when v. 4 A Mm nn nun r- mv-1 i ii ij t-mm most leisure and business travelers are home for the holidays and when many hotels are virtually empty. Sports-related economic-impact studies are at best an estimate, and the accuracy varies widely, said Mark Eschenfelder, an associate professor of economics af" Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh. "The best way to think of the Fiesta Bowl is how different will the community be because the event was held there," said Eschenfelder, who teaches a course on the Please see FIESTA, Page E2 i i iff Area code numbering system is faulted Block assignments of 10,000 to blame '1' -t-- If -1 i 9 ft 'T7Y Arizona companies have focused on ways to clean up Palico Creek, which of 1 2,000 people on its way to Laguna De Bay in the Philippines. Arizona Department of Commerce passes through a squatters' camp Pnilippi nes calling DOW JONES 9,320.83 94.23 NASDAQ 2,181.77 1.47 1,241.81 1632 BLOOMBERG 219.40 2.70 AZ INDEX IIISIDE International business Italians are the most enthusiastic europhiles among the 11 nations joining the European Union's new single currency.

Page E3. Stocks climb again Blue chips edge closer to record territory, pushing the market to its longest winning streak in two years. Page E4. Time running out Taxpayers across the country are rushing to cash in tax breaks before the year ends. Page E8.

AZlO AmWest fuel leak delays passengers A 500-gallon spill during refueling of an America West aircraft Tuesday forced the closure of four passenger waiting areas at the Columbus, Ohio, airport, according to an airport spokesman. There were no injuries. Odor from the spill required about 200 passengers to move to other gates for about an hour while firefighters cleaned up, Columbus Airport Authority spokesman David Whitaker said. America West ramp workers were refueling an Airbus A320 when the spill occurred at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time.

The passengers had not boarded the plane. America West used another aircraft to fly the passengers to Newark, N.J., after a three-hour delay, America West spokeswoman Patty Nowack said. A faulty valve allowed the fuel to leak out of a tank on the plane's wing, she said. SkyMall stock takes off i The stock of SkyMall continued its winning ways Tuesday, rising $5.18 a share to $40.75 as more than 8 million shares changed hands. SkyMall stock vaulted $23 a share Monday on volume of 25.7 million, after the in-flight catalog company said it anticipates a sevenfold increase in Internet sales for the year.

With a year-to-date return of 769 percent, the stock is likely to finish among the biggest gainers for 1998. The company first sold stock to the public two years ago at $8 a share. As recently as Oct. 8, SkyMall traded for just $1.88 a share. US West Y2K-ready US West said it is confident everything will run smoothly in 2000 throughout the telecommunications company's 14-state region, which includes Arizona.

William White, executive director of US West's Year 2000 initiative, said 80 percent of US West's 1,440 switching offices have been updated and tested, and the rest will be compliant by the end of June. Software ttot handles billing and trouble reporting also has been updated, and White said the company is working to make sure its voice-mail product also is Y2K-ready. At a glance Vodavi Technology -Inc. has promoted Gregory Roeper, its chief operating officer, to president. Glenn Fitchet resigned as president and chief operating officer to pursue other interests.

Scottsdale-based Vodavi provides telecommunications services. Compiled from reports by The Arizona Republic. To submit a news Kern to AZ Inc, call the Business desk at 444-8142, fax us at 444-4439 or send e-mail to repbizpni.com. Tf Get business I news 94 hours a day on Arizona Central, the I online service" of The Arizona Republic.You'll find it at JANE LARSON The Arizona Republic BBB makes member IDs easier to spot It's been one of the odd, frustrating things about belonging to a Better Business Bureau: Companies might belong, but because of trademark concerns, they have not been allowed to promote their membership in advertisements or on business cards and stationery. As a result, consumers have had a harder time finding businesses they could trust, and good businesses have had a harder time proving their worth against the fly-by-nights.

Things could get better for both starting Friday. That's when the Better Business Bureau of Northern and Central Arizona will launch its Membership Identification Program. BBB members who are approved for the program will be able to use a specially designed torch logo and advertise their membership in newspaper and broadcast ads, fliers, direct-mail pieces, telephone directories and on their business stationery. "This historic step is to address the needs of consumers who are trying to make wise purchasing decisions and in response to the Please see -BBB, Page E2 rrn 4 SI If I By Anick Jesdanun Associated Press WASHINGTON When the Philadelphia suburbs got a new area code four years ago, employees from Donald Culp's security-service company had to visit hundreds of homes to reprogram alarm systems. Although the phone company indicated the move would create enough new telephone numbers to satisfy demand until 2021, the Philadelphia region will need two more area codes in June.

For Culp, that means more service calls. The pattern is repeated across the nation, with the industry running out of phone numbers faster than ever imagined. Growing demand for cellular phones, pagers and second lines for modems and fax machines is often blamed. But.more at fault is the way that numbers are assigned, in blocks of 10,000, which leave many numbers unused. The Phoenix area, for example, is expected to run out of numbers in the 602 area code this summer, prompting the Federal Communications Commission to begin rationing new prefixes the first of the year.

But, of the 7.5 million phone numbers that can be accommodated by the 602 area code," only about 3 million have been assigned. The rest are held in abeyance by telecommunications companies that have been assigned the 10,000 number blocks. Even though fewer than half the numbers have been assigned, the FCC required the Arizona Corporation Commission to view them as being committed, which led to the commission's Dec. 18 approval of two new area codes for the Valley. Please see NUMBERING, Page E3 the priority," said Val Oveson, the new IRS national taxpayer advocate.

"It wasn't always a priority in the past." For years, the tax code has included an exemption for dependent children, and that won't change. But for the first time, many middle-income taxpayers also can claim a $400 credit for each of them. The credit is reduced by $50 for every $1,000 a family's adjusted gross income exceeds $110,000 for joint filers, $55,000 for married couples filing separately, and $75,000 for single filers. There are several other changes for 1998: Please see NEW, Page E3 Year ago Year Tuesday ago Tom TingleThe Arizona Republic "They (the Philippines) are right on the verge of becoming a significant player in the South Pacific," said William Allen of ASL Hydrologic. Islands beckon Valley businesses with opportunities By Jane Larson The Arizona Republic Valley engineers want to build a natural wetland, complete with cattails and other marsh plants, to help clean up a polluted creek in the Philippine Islands.

A Phoenix company envisions Filipinos filling their water jugs at strings of water stores, all operating with water-purification systems made in the Valley. As distant as the Philippines is, small environmental companies in Please see VALLEY, Page E2 DOLLAR EQUALS: tax season begins anew FYI Tax changes for 1999 In addition to tax law revisions that affected the 1998 tax year, the following changes for 1999 will take effect New Year's Day: The credit for children under age 17 for middle-class parents rises to $500 from the $400 allowed in 1998. Self-employed people will be able to deduct 60 percent of their health insurance premiums in 1999, up from 45 percent in 1998. An expanded definition of the home office means an estimated 2 million businesspeople will be able to claim a deduction for the first time on 1999 returns. Senior citizens ages 65 to 69 can earn up to $15,500 in 1999 without losing any of their Social Security benefits, compared with $14,500 in 1998.

The limit increases to $30,000 in 2002. Beginning Jan. 19, the Internal Revenue Service cannot seize a taxpayer's principal residence without a court order. Several other taxpayer protections also take effect jn 1999. The amount of income subject to the 12.4 percent payroll tax that funds Social Security rises from $68,400 in 1998 to $72,600 in 1999.

This is the largest such increase since 1979 and translates into a tax increase on 9 million people. changes for the 1998 tax year intended by Congress to benefit people with moderate incomes. "There may not be more changes than in a normal year, but a lot of tax breaks were geared toward the lower-income taxpayers, so it will affect a lot more people," said John Gardner, senior manager at the KPMG Peat Marwick accounting firm. Taxpayers can pay taxes with credit cards for the first time, and they have more options than ever to file returns electronically. And the Internal Revenue Service, with its new emphasis on service, pledges to be more helpful and less heavy-handed than in the past.

"Taxpayer rights are first. That's INTEREST RATES Tuesday Year ends, New rules to ease burden for many in middle class By Curt Anderson Associated Press WASHINGTON As the holiday season draws to a close, Americans turn to the decidedly less festive task of filling out income tax of middle-class people, especially parents with school-age children, figure to improve their bottom lines by taking advantage of new tax breaks. A new $400 credit for each child under age 17 highlights several METALS AND COMMODITIES: N.T. Merc 286.10 Handy mr-; N.T. Merc 1 i- Cotton Tro7oz.

1 Harman 60.65 Troy oz. 5.025 Pound 0.37 osday's Eiiaitccts summary CLOSING QUOTES: ONE NYSE: AffiEX: 597.05 670.75 8.04 5.17 CompQSltB volume: 753,273,350 Toronto: 6,472.16 6.76 Russell 2000: 410.41 2.13 Prime rate 7.75 8.50 6-month T-bills 4.46 5.24 Discount rate 4.50 5.00 1 0-year T-notes 4.67 5.79 Federal funds 4.75 6.07 30-year T-bonds 5.09 5.96 3-month T-bill 4.46 5.22 Avg. 30-yr. mortgage rate: 6.77 Crude oil 11.72 0.26 Barrel 9.8760 1.6717 4 0.0460 0.100 www.azcentral.combusiness.