Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

A local public watchdog group is asking the Lane County tax assessor to investigate whether allegations of price fixing by the parent companies of Hynix might disqualify the local computer-chip plant from enterprise zone property tax breaks.

David Monk, president of Citizens for Public Accountability, sent a letter to the assessor's office on Dec. 7 asking the assessor to look into the matter.

"As Eugene citizens concerned about the integrity of Oregon's tax system and the equitable enforcement of the law, we request that you investigate whether Hynix'(s) alleged illegal activities may render the company ineligible to receive enterprise zone tax breaks," the letter said.

The group sent its request after news reports that Oregon had joined a multistate lawsuit against Hynix's parent companies in California and in South Korea and six other computer memory manufacturers.

The lawsuit seeks relief for Oregon consumers who paid more for their computers than they should have because of collusion among producers of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM. Hynix and three other computer memory producers have pleaded guilty to criminal price fixing for DRAM from 1998 to 2002. Hynix paid $185 million in fines, and several Hynix executives will be serving jail time.

Hynix spokesman Bobby Lee said the local plant is a legally separate entity from the parent corporations involved in the allegations.

He said the local plant, Hynix Semiconductor Manufacturing America, will "fully cooperate with any inquiries related to this issue."

In the past 10 years, the west Eugene Hynix plant has paid $35.37 million in property taxes and received tax breaks worth $57.57 million, according to the assessor's office.

Oregon is among 34 states that filed the antitrust complaint in July in the U.S. District Court for the northern district of California.