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- Written by: California Board of Equalization
Thus Amazon, who has refused to comply with the new law, could still have a competitive tax advantage over California-based companies.
“Although the new law applies to certain out-of-state Internet companies selling to California consumers, the law does not automatically require every Internet company 'engaged in business in California' to collect district use taxes,” said Horton. “Amazon could still avoid collecting and paying the district use taxes on California consumers’ purchases.”
For example, Internet company X makes an Internet sale to Mr. Smith and ships the merchandise from outside of California to his residence in the city of Inglewood via common carrier.
As long as Internet company X is not "engaged in business" in the districts where Mr. Smith’s residence is located (the city of Inglewood and the county of Los Angeles), then Internet company X is not required to collect district tax from Mr. Smith and only has to collect the cumulative state and local use tax rate of 7.25 percent, for the merchandise it ships to Mr. Smith in Inglewood.
However, if Mr. Smith made that same purchase from a brick-and-mortar store located in the city of Inglewood, then the applicable cumulative state, local, and district tax rate would be 9.25 percent, including cumulative district taxes of 2 percent.
In the city of Inglewood, that is a 2 percent (cumulative district taxes) advantage. Furthermore, that 2 percent may be Mr. Smith's liability.
In this example, Internet company X is not obligated to collect the district taxes since it is not engaged in business in the city of Inglewood or the county of Los Angeles. This gives the out-of-state retailer a 2 percent tax advantage and allows it to appear to sell their products for 2 percent less than the Inglewood store.
Elected in 2010, Chairman Jerome E. Horton is the Fourth District member of the California State Board of Equalization, representing more than 8.5 million residents in Los Angeles County. He is also the Board of Equalization Legislative Committee chairman. He is the first to serve on the Board of Equalization with over 21 years of experience at the BOE. Horton previously served as an Assembly Member of the California State Assembly from 2000-2006.
The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. The Board of Equalization collects more than $48 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes.
For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.
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Plentiful rain and snow this past winter not only ended California’s drought, it gave a healthy boost to Pacific Gas & Electric's hydroelectric power.
The added snow and rain is already benefiting the utility’s customers, the environment, and the power grid, according to the company.
That’s because hydroelectric power is less expensive than most other forms of power available in the market.
Hydropower also generates energy without producing greenhouse gases and helps increase the percentage of PG&E’s renewable generation for the year.
During the hotter months of the summer, typically in July and August, hydropower helps PG&E meet peak-demand periods.
When the river systems are under control, water flows can be routed through the powerhouses to produce electricity to meet increased demands on the energy grid.
This year the abundant snowpack could lengthen the typical hydropower yield into the late summer.
PG&E anticipates this year’s hydroelectric power yield will be 21 percent above average. The additional hydroelectric power means PG&E won’t have to produce or buy as much power from other generation sources which rely on more expensive fuels, such as natural gas, to generate power.
The added hydroelectric power translates into a reduction of 886,621 metric tons of CO2 emissions – equivalent to the electricity use of 107,600 homes for an entire year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
California’s mountain snowpack was at 163 percent of normal as of April – the highest amount since 1995. A cool spring and additional precipitation has slowed the snowmelt, leaving the state’s snowpack at more than three times of normal as of June 1. That late snowpack poses its own set of challenges as the hot summer days approach and snowmelt accelerates.
“We have both abundant water supply and a late season snowpack – a great problem to have when it comes to hydroelectric production,” said Mike Jones, power generation lead. “We are vigilantly managing these additional late season water flows to produce energy to meet our customers’ needs while also striving to ensure public safety.”
Jones points out how PG&E does not have sufficient water storage capability to capture all this snow as it melts.
“Consequently, we seek to manage the hydro runoff in a predictable manner – releasing water to our hydro facilities and into river systems before reservoirs are full,” said Jones. “River flow changes are controlled for recreational users. We want some reservoir space available in case we have a heat wave or thunderstorm that results in a sudden influx of snowmelt.”
Because PG&E’s rates are based on the forecasted cost of delivering the energy, less money spent on power in the open market translates into cost benefits for customers.
These hydro levels are also likely to help bring PG&E closer to its renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goals, since small hydropower generation of less than 30 megawatts qualifies under California’s RPS mandate.
Although most of the news about full reservoirs is good, Californians need to be aware as they enjoy recreational activities at the many public facilities such as boat launches, fishing docks, picnic areas and campgrounds maintained by PG&E. The wet year increases the chance for potential dangers at these recreational facilities.
The water in rivers and reservoirs is deeper, colder and moves more swiftly. To help keep the public safe, PG&E is increasing communications about water safety and how to avoid potential water hazards.
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Thirty wines of the 1,900 entries were awarded this distinction.
Winemaker Mark Burch believes that this 2010 vintage Sauvignon Blanc is one of his best.
Since becoming the winemaker at Wildhurst in 1997, Burch has garnered a major Sauvignon Blanc award 10 times.
The 2010 Sauvignon Blanc wine was produced and bottled at Wildhurst Winery and came from Holdenried Vineyards, Vincent Price Vineyards in Kelseyville and Bill Oldham Vineyards in Upper Lake.
“This is a very fitting award as part of our 20 year anniversary celebration of the founding of Wildhurst Winery.” states owner Myron Holdenried. “The list of award winning wines over the past 20 years validates the consistent quality of Wildhurst wine and Mark‘s attention to detail in winemaking. These awards also show that Lake County does compete favorably with any wine grape growing region. ”
Holdenried, a fifth generation farmer in Kelseyville, noted some of the history of Lake County’s wine grape industry.
“Before Prohibition, Lake County had thousands of acres of grapes and at least 28 wineries,” he said. “With the onset of Prohibition, the vineyards were abandoned, and pear or walnut orchards were planted on the same ground. Over the past two decades, there has been the reverse action. The pears and walnuts have been pulled out, and grapes have been planted. in their place. In 1966, we stepped out of the pear box, and planted our first winegrape vineyard on former pasture land.”
After selling grapes to Parducci, Fetzer and Jess Jackson for many years and just being part of the “blend,” Myron and Marilyn Holdenried believed there was a need for more recognition of Lake County wines.
In January 1991, they joined forces with four Collin Brothers with farm backgrounds from Fresno, and took the plunge to start a new Lake County winery.
This was an opportunity to become part of the growing Wine Country industry and market.
“We hired a young woman winemaker, Kathy Redman from South Africa, who would work under the tutelage of Jed Steele,” Marilyn Holdenried said.
“We leased the Lower Lake Winery from the Stuermer family,” she said. “After five years, we decided to relocate the winery and tasting room to Kelseyville. The IOOF Hall in Kelseyville, owned by the Borghesani family, was available and we were willing to renovate the downstairs area for a Retail Visitor Center. It made sense to be in a location which already had existing events, a festival, and a marketing more strategy.”
Myron Holdenried added, “In 1997, Mark Burch, who was working at Kendall Jackson winery in Lakeport, entered the picture and took over making our wine. He was very passionate about the quality potential of Lake County grapes, especially Sauvignon Blanc. He believed that there were great opportunities for our products.”
The Holdenrieds constructed a winery cellar on Benson Lane, north of Kelseyville, on the location of their pear packing facility in 1998.
The original cold storage building used by the Holdenrieds for their packing operation is now the official permanent barrel and case storage facility for Wildhurst. The pear packing facility was closed in 2005.
Under the committed direction of Burch and assistant, Banyon Kirkendall, Wildhurst now produces wines for other custom clients as well as their other labels of Mackinaw and Plunkett Creek.
“Mark and Banyon work many long hours getting the best out of the grape,” Myron Holdenried said.
The couple said that in the past 20 years they have been fortunate to have had very dedicated and innovative employees who have contributed significantly to the Wildhurst success.
“With great creativity, energy, and hard work, the staff has put on some amazing events and parties,” they said. “Here is a toast to the next 20 years!”
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The order addresses allegations that Wells Fargo Financial employees steered potential prime borrowers into more costly subprime loans and separately falsified income information in mortgage applications.
In addition to the civil money penalty, the order requires that Wells Fargo compensate affected borrowers.
In agreeing to the order, Wells Fargo did not admit any wrongdoing.
“The alleged actions committed by a relatively small group of team members are not what we stand for at Wells Fargo,” said Chairman and CEO John Stumpf. “Fair and responsible lending practices have been at the core of our culture, and they will continue to guide us as we work closely with the Federal Reserve to provide restitution to customers who may have been harmed, and to reinforce our internal controls so they further reflect Wells Fargo’s commitment to helping customers succeed financially.”
The $85 million civil money penalty is the largest the board has assessed in a consumer-protection enforcement action and is the first formal enforcement action taken by a federal bank regulatory agency to address alleged steering of borrowers into high-cost, subprime loans.
Wells Fargo Financial – a once-active, non-bank subsidiary of Wells Fargo – made subprime loans that primarily refinanced existing home mortgages in which borrowers received additional money from the loan proceeds in so-called cash-out refinancing loans.
The order addresses allegations that Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel steered borrowers who were potentially eligible for prime interest rate loans into loans at higher, subprime interest rates, resulting in greater costs to borrowers.
The order also addresses separate allegations that Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel falsified information about borrowers' incomes to make it appear that the borrowers qualified for loans when they would not have qualified based on their actual incomes.
These practices were allegedly fostered by Wells Fargo Financial's incentive compensation and sales quota programs and the lack of adequate controls to manage the risks resulting from these programs.
These deficiencies allegedly constitute unsafe and unsound banking practices and unfair or deceptive acts or practices that are prohibited by the Federal Trade Commission Act and similar state laws.
The order requires Wells Fargo to compensate borrowers affected by these practices.
To identify prime-eligible borrowers with cash-out refinancing loans who were subject to improper steering, Wells Fargo is required to reevaluate the qualifications of all borrowers who took out a subprime, cash-out refinancing loan between January 2006 and June 2008 to account for certain specific steering techniques.
To identify Wells Fargo Financial borrowers whose income information was falsified without their knowledge, Wells Fargo is required to set up a procedure for potentially affected borrowers to show that their actual income at the time did not qualify them for the loans they were granted.
Wells Fargo is required to provide notice of this procedure to all borrowers who obtained cash-out refinancing loans between January 2004 and June 2008 at a Wells Fargo Financial office where there is evidence that sales personnel at that office altered or falsified borrowers' income information.
These compensation plans must be approved by the Federal Reserve. An independent, third-party administrator will review determinations about the eligibility of individual borrowers for compensation and the amounts of compensation provided.
The Federal Reserve also will monitor compliance with the approved plans. Failure to comply with the plans will constitute a breach of the cease and desist order.
The amount of compensation provided to individual borrowers will depend on a number of factors, including differences between what borrowers paid and what they should have paid in terms of origination points, interest payments, fees, and penalties.
ntil specific determinations of harm to individual borrowers are made, it is difficult to determine the total amount of compensation provided to borrowers, according to the Federal Reserve's Wednesday announcement.
Based on preliminary estimates, the amount of compensation that each eligible borrower will receive ranges between $1,000 and $20,000, but some eligible borrowers may receive less than $1,000 and others may receive more than $20,000. The number of borrowers who may receive compensation under both plans is estimated to be between 3,700 and possibly more than 10,000.
Further information for borrowers may be found at www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage.
In addition to the monetary components of the settlement, Wells Fargo is required to improve oversight of its anti-fraud and compliance programs and incentive compensation and performance management policies for personnel who sell and underwrite home mortgage loans.
The board also has issued consent orders against 16 former Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel prohibiting them from becoming employed in the banking industry.
The board also has issued a consent cease and desist order against another former Wells Fargo Financial sales person prohibiting future improper conduct.