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U-Haul offering 30 days free use of U-Box containers to northwest Californians affected by wildfires
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – U-Haul Co. of Northwest California is offering 30 days free use of U-Box portable moving and storage containers to residents of Lake, Napa and Sonoma Counties and surrounding areas who have been evacuated from their homes or need to move belongings away from the recent outbreak of wildfires.
U-Box containers feature 257 cubic feet of space and one-ton capacity, can be packed on your timeframe and can be stored in a secure warehouse until you are ready to retrieve your belongings.
With U-Box containers, you also can conveniently pick up our custom-designed trailer and tow your U-Box container.
People in need of boxes are encouraged to take advantage of the U-Haul Take a Box, Leave a Box Program.
The program enables customers to return their reusable boxes and others to take them as needed.
U-Haul encourages anyone who has reusable boxes to drop them at the nearest U-Haul location for another family to reuse, free of charge.
Families needing more information about the 30-days-free U-Box storage assistance program should contact the U-Haul location below:
U-Haul Company of Northwest California
1446 Colusa Highway
Yuba City, Calif. 95993
866-648-0872
U-Haul is working with the American Red Cross to combat wildfires and assist victims across all affected U.S. regions as an official Red Cross Disaster Responder.
“It’s pretty bad,” said Chris Watson, marketing company president for U-Haul Company of Northwest California.
“We want people to know U-Haul is here to help out and donate what we can to ease some of their pain. If they need to bring their valuables to pack and store until they can figure out what’s going on, we’re here for them. U-Haul Company of Northwest California hopes that providing 30 days free use of U-Box containers will offer some peace of mind during this disaster,” Watson said.
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SACRAMENTO – Boosted by strong retail sales and use tax revenues, the state in August brought in $637.8 million more than expected when the 2015-16 budget was finalized two months ago, according to State Controller Betty T. Yee’s monthly report of California’s cash balance, receipts and disbursements published this week.
For more than a year, personal income tax drove state revenues to surpass expectations. In August, by contrast, retail sales and use tax took the lead, exceeding estimates by $127.2 million, or 4.3 percent.
Personal income tax continued to show strength, beating projections by $39.7 million, or 1.0 percent.
The last of the state’s “big three” revenue sources – the corporation tax – also came in higher than anticipated by $35.7 million, or 28.9 percent.
After July revenue came in close to expectations, the strong August numbers pushed overall receipts for the 2015-16 fiscal year to $674.7 million, or 5.0 percent, above projections.
For the fiscal year to date, all three major sources of revenue are surpassing expectations.
They also are beating totals from the prior fiscal year, with August receipts $1.5 billion higher than a year ago, and year-to-date receipts $1.9 billion higher.
August retail sales and use tax revenues of $3.1 billion surpassed those from a year ago by 36.7 percent, while personal income tax revenue of $4.2 billion came in 6 percent higher, and corporation tax revenue of $159.1 million was 26.2 percent higher.
For an analysis of fiscal trends and issues, see the newest issue of the controller’s monthly newsletter, California Fiscal Focus.
The state ended the month of August with unused borrowable resources of $29.8 billion, which is 10.1 percent more than anticipated when the budget was signed.
The general fund, the source of most state spending, may borrow from other funds to even out variability in revenue and disbursement patterns.
For many years, the controller pursued external borrowing when cash available from these special funds was projected to fall short of general fund obligations.
However, this year, because of the state’s improved fiscal position, the controller anticipates internal borrowing will be sufficient to meet cash flow without having to issue revenue anticipation notes.
For more details, read the monthly cash report.
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SACRAMENTO – State Treasurer John Chiang on Thursday announced the completion of a sale of $1.93 billion in state general obligation bonds.
The sale included the issuance of $1.38 billion in refunding bonds to refinance about $1.54 billion of existing debt. This resulted in taxpayer savings of more than $270 million.
“I am very pleased at the result of this sale, which will save taxpayers such a substantial sum over the remaining life of the refinanced debt. This is a particularly favorable result, given the tremendous volatility in global equity and debt markets over the past several weeks,” Chiang said.
“In the face of this volatility, which saw unusual swings in bond yields, the issue met with good success,” Chiang continued. “Recent credit upgrades have increased the market’s confidence in the state’s credit worthiness and individual and institutional investors alike continued to demonstrate faith in California.”
The treasurer’s decision to take advantage of the current interest rate environment by re-financing previously-issued, higher interest rate bonds is expected to save taxpayers more than $270 million in debt service costs over the life of the refunded bonds.
Here are some key statistics associated with this sale:
– Final size: $1.93 billion.
– True interest cost: 3.36 percent.
– $550 million in new money bonds.
– The new money will be used to provide permanent financing for capital projects.
– Final re-offering yields ranged from a low of 0.175 percent for a 2016 maturity to a high of 3.47 percent (5 percent coupon)/3.95 percent (4 percent coupon) for a 30-year maturity.
– Retail orders comprised almost $380 million of bonds sold.
– The State’s credit ratings are: Aa3 by Moody’s Investors Service, AA-, by Standard & Poor’s, and A+, by Fitch Ratings.
– The State was last upgraded by Moody’s in June 2014; Standard & Poor’s in July 2015; and, Fitch Ratings in February 2015.
The next state general obligation bond sale is expected to occur in October. A list of other scheduled sales can be found on the treasurer’s Web site, http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/bonds/calendar.asp .
The state treasurer has broad responsibilities and authority in the areas of public investment and finance.
In particular, he oversees the issuance of state debt and is responsible for crafting best practices for the sale of debt and the investment of public funds for California’s more than 4,000 local bond issuers, including the state, school districts, cities, counties and special districts.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Umpqua Bank is offering a Disaster Relief Lending Program to support customers in communities affected by natural disasters including wildfires, earthquakes and floods.
Available now to areas currently impacted by the California wildfires, the program provides rapid access to personal loans up to $2,500 at a reduced interest rate.
Umpqua Bank customers who reside within 25 miles of an Umpqua Bank store hit with a natural disaster under a level three or higher mandatory evacuation are eligible.
The loans are focused on helping customers take care of immediate needs for themselves and their families including short-term living expenses, generators for power and other immediate needs.
“Communities throughout the Umpqua footprint are facing another horrific wildfire season, and we wanted to re-launch our relief loan program to help those affected,” said Ray Davis, Umpqua Bank president and chief executive officer. “We’ve created this emergency lending program to provide quick, low-cost access to funds to support customers’ immediate needs during a time that can be financially unpredictable.”
Loan approvals are subject to the bank’s minimum credit requirements and store participation is subject to change depending on disaster location.
Relief loans are currently offered at the following stores:
· Willow Creek, Calif., River Complex fire;
· Weaverville, Calif., Fork Complex fire;
· Lakeport, Calif., Rocky fire;
· Kelseyville, Calif., Rocky fire;
· Ukiah Store, Calif., Rocky fire.
To learn more about the program or apply for a loan, customers can visit any Umpqua store, call 888-702-7759 or find the bank online at http://www.umpquabank.com/ .
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