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- Written by: California Department of Food and Agriculture
SACRAMENTO – When you buy two pounds of apples, 12 gallons of gas, or a cord of firewood, how do you know you’ve gotten what you paid for?
Weights and measures inspectors in California are on the job, monitoring routine transactions and keeping pace with rapidly advancing technologies to ensure fairness in the marketplace. Their service to consumers and industry plays an essential role in our economic recovery by protecting buyers and sellers in virtually all sales of goods in the United States.
To recognize and honor this vital element of our free-market society, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Division of Measurement Standards and County Sealers of Weights and Measures are celebrating Weights and Measures Week: “Keeping Pace for the Future,” March 1-7, 2010.
“This date is significant; it marks the signing of the first national weights and measures law by John Adams on March 2, 1799,” said CDFA Secretary A. G. Kawamura. “During the 150-year history of weights and measures in California that traces back to the Gold Rush of 1849-50, we have seen amazing advancements from mechanical devices to highly sophisticated, software-based weighing and measuring systems.”
Today, throughout the United States, quantities are determined in all business sectors using the latest advancements in technology. Gasoline stations and supermarkets employ state-of-the-art weighing and measuring equipment. Railway cars and highway vehicles are weighed “in-motion.” Coal is weighed while moving rapidly across belt-conveyor scales.
Motor fuel quality, another function for weights and measures, is also a rapidly advancing science. Regulatory officials are challenged with the development of performance specifications and laboratory testing of evolving fuel sources such as ethanol, biodiesel, biobutanol and hydrogen. Regardless of the technology in place, inspectors are well-trained to secure accuracy and equity.
“The weights and measures inspector is perhaps the least-known element of daily commerce in the United States, but these experts protect buyers and sellers in every transaction,” said Secretary Kawamura.
National Weights and Measures Week is declared by the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM), which is a professional, nonprofit association of state and local weights and measures officials, manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
In 1905, NCWM was formed to develop model standards for uniform enforcement from city to city and state to state. The organization has set the example for bringing the right interests to the table to develop and amend national standards to keep pace with innovative advancements in the marketplace.
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- Written by: California Board of Equalization
SACRAMENTO – Betty T. Yee, Chairwoman of the Board of Equalization (BOE), has announced 180,000 businesses will be automatically registered by March 1 so they can efile their use tax returns beginning in March to comply with the new registration and use tax reporting law for specified businesses.
The BOE is notifying these businesses by letter of their recent registration with instructions on how to meet the April 15, 2010, deadline to efile their returns, in order to comply with a new legislatively mandated enforcement of the decades old use tax requirement.
“In California, about $1.2 billion annually goes unpaid in use tax owed by both consumers and businesses,” said Yee. “We are committed to assisting taxpayers by providing a convenient way to efile use tax payments.”
To assist taxpayers, the BOE automatically registered approximately 180,000 individuals and businesses identified as qualified purchasers that are being sent a welcome letter with an account number, express login code, and directions to efile online at www.boe.ca.gov .
The BOE estimates that the new use tax registration and reporting program will bring in revenue of $81 million in 2009-2010, $183 million in 2010-2011, and $367 million in 2011-2012.
The new registration and use tax reporting law requires a “qualified purchaser” to register with the BOE, and report and pay by April 15, the use tax owed for purchases made during the calendar year.
A qualified purchaser is either an individual, partnership, corporation or other business entity that meets all of the following conditions: the business is not required to hold a seller’s permit or certificate of registration for use tax; the business is not a holder of a use tax direct payment permit; the person or business receives at least $100,000 in gross receipts from business operations, both in-state and out-of-state, per calendar year; and the business is not otherwise registered with the board to report use tax.
Beginning in September 2009 through December 2009, the BOE sent approximately 180,000 initial notification letters to qualified purchasers informing them of the new use tax registration and reporting requirements, and also informing the taxpayer that the BOE would be creating an account for them so that they’ll be able to report and pay their use tax liability.
A taxpayer who meets the requirements of a qualified purchaser, but has not received a letter from the BOE, is still obligated to comply with the new law and register and file a use tax return by April 15.
California use tax has existed since 1935. It was established to eliminate the price advantage out-of-state retailers would have over California businesses that collect and remit sales tax to the BOE. Use tax rates are the same as sales tax rates, which vary in California from 8.25 percent to 10.75 percent, depending on location.
The BOE is committed to helping all California businesses and individuals comply with the state’s complex and changing tax laws.
The board members are scheduled to discuss issues related to the implementation of this new registration and use tax reporting program at their public board meeting on March 23-25 at the BOE headquarters building in Sacramento.
Chairwoman Betty T. Yee was elected to her post in November 2006. Her district includes many of California’s coastal counties, from Del Norte to Santa Barbara, and includes the entire San Francisco Bay Area.
The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $53 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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- Written by: Office of the California Attorney General
Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced that his office has reached an agreement with Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. to provide California Toyota owners with at-home pickup and vehicle return and cost-free alternative transportation while their recalled vehicles are being repaired.
"This agreement goes a long way towards easing the burden caused by Toyota's massive recall," Brown said. "It will now be much easier for Toyota owners to get to work and take their kids to school while critical safety repairs are made on their cars."
Under the terms of the agreement, Toyota will provide owners of recalled vehicles the following services:
Pick-up and return of vehicles by the dealership;
Transportation to the dealership and/or to the owner's place of work;
Alternative transportation, such as a rental car, loaner vehicle or taxi reimbursement for a reasonable period that the customer is unable or unwilling to use his or her car; and
Expedited scheduling for repair services.
These services will be provided by Toyota through the dealers at no cost to either the owners or the dealer.
The following Toyota vehicle recalls are covered by today's agreement:
Sept. 29, 2009, for floormat entrapment;
Jan. 21, 2010, for sticking accelerator pedals;
Feb. 8, 2010, for anti-lock brake system issues; and
Feb. 12, 2010, for drive-shaft failure.
The following vehicles are involved in the recent Toyota and Lexus vehicle recalls: 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2007-2010 ES 350, 2008-2010 Highlander, 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2004-2009 Prius, 2010 Prius, 2009-2010 RAV4, 2008-2010 Sequoia, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2009-2010 VENZA and 2010 HS 250h.
More information on the specific vehicles affected by the recalls can be found at www.nhtsa.dot.gov and www.toyota.com/recall .
Californians are encouraged to contact their local Toyota and Lexus dealers if they believe they are eligible for these accommodations. Consumers can also contact Toyota's customer service center at 1-800-331-4331 or Lexus at 1-800-255-3987.
This agreement will remain in place until all Toyota vehicles subject to the recall have been repaired. If additional safety recalls arise, an extension of this agreement or other appropriate provisions will be pursued.
Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. is based in Torrance, Calif.
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- Written by: California Department of Food and Agriculture
SACRAMENTO – The final environmental impact report (EIR) for the light brown apple moth (LBAM) program has been released and is available for viewing at www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/PDEP/lbam/envimpactrpt.html .
Completion of the EIR is required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and is a procedural step in the ongoing invasive pest program.
"This is a significant step in this program," said CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura. "The environmental impact report reaffirms what we have long known – that the Light Brown Apple Moth project is a safe approach to dealing with a damaging pest. This report demonstrates CDFA’s commitment to protecting California’s environment and food supply.”
The EIR determined that it was unlikely that the approaches in the LBAM program would cause human harm or environmental damage, and found that greater potential for human and environmental harm would come from widespread pesticide use by private parties and organizations in the absence of an LBAM program.
The approaches evaluated include the use of moth pheromone, organically-approved materials, and sterile moths. The only two treatment methods being considered currently are the placement of pheromone twist ties on trees and plants, and the release of sterile moths.
The sterile release project is the preferred alternative identified in the EIR. CDFA is not currently considering aerial applications of pheromone.
The EIR states that eradication is the goal. However, the application is broad and would apply to either an eradication or control strategy, depending on the needs of the program.