Tax House

As some of you will have noticed, the Daily Journal has taken a step forward in the digital universe into the “Twitterverse.” We’ve also stepped up our interactions on our Facebook wall – and we encourage you all to go to the wall and “like” us (please don’t “friend” us on the home page, go to the wall and hit “like” instead) and keep up with us – and your friends and neighbors – there as well as on our web site.

All of us in the newsroom are Tweeting more now. Here’s where you can follow us:

@KCMeadows1

@TiffanyRevelle (county reporter)

@JustFrederiksen (city reporter)

@UdjJeff (our news assistant, he’ll provide morning updates when there’s breaking news)

@udjKelly (our community and arts expert)

@thiswasnews (Jody Martinez, our history guru)

@JoeLangstaff (our local sports guy)

@udjbrian (our photographer)

We’re all new at this so we’re finding out how to do this as we go. For instance, we got some advice that we should copy all our Tweets to the Facebook wall. So we tried doing that, but then got more advice that people who interact on Facebook don’t want Tweets coming through on a regular basis, that it gets too annoying, so we stopped. Sometimes we’ll put something up on Facebook that we have Tweeted, but mostly we’ll try to have different stuff on each of those platforms. Because of its shorter and more concise nature we will likely be Tweeting more than posting on Facebook but we will be doing more of both, so check it out.

A reader in Potter Valley called last week to remind us all that the phone scam where a person – usually a senior citizen – gets a frantic call from a grandson or granddaughter requesting money to get out of jail or pay for emergency room treatment is back in circulation. She got one a week or so ago and was able to shut it down right away since she knew exactly where her grandson was at the time. But many seniors are frightened by these calls and even end up sending off money to crooks.

Blood Bank of the Redwoods and Blood Centers of the Pacific have established the Blood Bank of the Redwoods Legacy Funds at Community Foundation Sonoma County and at the Community Foundation of Mendocino. Each fund is structured as an endowment and will provide funding for a variety of community health programs.

 Blood Bank of the Redwoods, a locally founded and managed blood center in Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino Counties, continues to give back to its community even now after being acquired by neighboring Blood Centers of the Pacific in 2011. With net proceeds of $2.2 million, both boards of directors have structured the endowments so that the money will be returned to the communities BBR served through the support of more than one million blood donations and hundreds of thousands of transfusions in its 63 year history.

 Blood Bank of the Redwoods Board of Directors recognized over the last decade the dramatic changes in regional health care and made developing a strategy for the future delivery of blood services their highest priority. As stewards of the community blood center the directors began the search for blood services that would be sustainable through the next several decades of health care change, such as escalating costs and consolidation of hospitals. The intent was to find an organization that could seamlessly take over services, had familiarity with the region, had long-term viability and would dedicate itself to BBR’s donors, patients and hospitals. The Board of Directors chose Blood Centers of the Pacific to do just that.

The Community Foundations in Sonoma and Mendocino counties will be the stewards of the endowments along with representatives from our communities and Blood Centers of the Pacific who will review and recommend grants to be distributed, in the name of Blood Bank of the Redwoods, to qualified local projects and programs.

 The Blood Bank of the Redwoods Legacy Funds were designed to offer grants in the area of blood banking, transfusion medicine, health and wellness and to fund research in related fields. The BBR Legacy Fund at Community Foundation Sonoma County will also support programs in Lake County.

Mendocino County residents have been blood donors and have received blood at their hospitals almost from the beginning. “We have always had a strong blood donor base up here in Mendocino County. The foundation is grateful to receive a portion of the proceeds and I know there are worthy local programs that will benefit from the endowment for many years to come,” commented Community Foundation of Mendocino board president, Jim Mayfield.

 Blood Centers of the Pacific, formerly known as Irwin Memorial Blood Centers, helped the local founders establish the Sonoma County Community Blood Bank, later known as Blood Bank of the Redwoods, in 1948.  It seems fitting and natural for the two centers to become one in 2011.

The Community Foundation of Mendocino County exists to retain and build philanthropic resources that will strengthen Mendocino County communities over time. The Community Foundation has a variety of giving vehicles that allow donors to personalize their giving and provides stewardship for funds in a way that creates a lasting legacy.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board has once again named Save Mart Supermarkets as one of the winners of the 2011 Waste Reduction Award in recognition for green business practices.

Every year California businesses and nonprofits are encouraged to showcase their voluntary waste reduction, recycling, and resource conservation efforts by applying for recognition in the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP). The WRAP program was established in 1993 and honors California businesses and nonprofit organizations for demonstrating innovation and leadership in waste prevention, recycling and composting, procurement, and education within their business practices.

Now in its 18th year, WRAP has honored Save Mart Supermarkets and its stores ­ Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, and FoodMaxx ­ every year since 2000. According to the CIWMB, 280 California businesses and nonprofit organizations were recognized for their innovative, environmentally-friendly programs and policies. The 2011 honorees collectively diverted more than 2.3 million tons of materials from local landfills through aggressive resource management, recycling, and waste reduction, and reported more than $200 million in cost savings.

“We are pleased that our continuing efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle have once again been recognized by the State of California,” said Steve Gaines, Senior Director for Retail Efficiencies at Save Mart Supermarkets. “We actually close the loop by composting our organic waste, which we package and sell at our stores and donate for use in state, local, and neighborhood landscape improvement projects.”

Save Mart Supermarkets operates 230 stores throughout Northern California and Northern Nevada under the Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, Maxx Value Foods, and FoodMaxx banners. The privately-held company was founded January 17, 1952 and has always been headquartered in Modesto, California.

U.S. wine exports, 90 percent from California, reached a new record of $1.39 billion in winery revenues in 2011, an increase of 21.7 percent compared to 2010. Volume shipments were up 5.8 percent to 455.7 million liters or 50.6 million nine-liter cases. 

“The quality, diversity and value of California wines have propelled us to another record year for wine exports,” said Robert P. (Bobby) Koch, Wine Institute President and CEO.  “Our success in removing trade barriers and opening new markets as well as significant marketing investments by our wineries will allow us to reach our goal of $2 billion in exports by 2020.”

“Our global Discover California Wines campaign with its link to California’s iconic and aspirational lifestyle resonates with consumers, media and trade throughout the world,” said Linsey Gallagher, Wine Institute’s International Marketing Director. ”We have significantly increased our focus on and investment in the China market over the past year in this top priority market.  Our goal is to connect the lifestyle that is associated with our state with the understanding of California as a world class wine producing region.”

“Wine Institute’s work with the U.S. government and key international organizations such as the World Wine Trade Group, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and FIVS continues to have a valuable impact in facilitating trade.  Export growth in 2011, however, reinforces the need to continue eliminating unreasonable trade barriers, particularly in the Pacific Rim where wineries are burdened by protectionist tariffs and duplicative regulations costing Asia-Pacific economies close to $1 billion per year,” said Wine Institute’s International Trade Policy Director Tom LaFaille.

Thirty-four percent of U.S. wine exports by value were shipped to the 27-member countries of the European Union, accounting for $478 million of the revenues, up 10 percent from 2010.  Volume shipments to the EU reached 28 million cases in 2011, edging up 1.4 percent from the previous year.  Other top markets were: Canada, $379 million, up 23 percent; Hong Kong, $163 million, up 39 percent; Japan, $105 million, up 39 percent; and China, $62 million, up 42 percent.

“California wines continue to grow in popularity with both trade and consumers in the Canadian market,”according to Rick Slomka, Wine Institute Trade Director for Canada. ”Some of the recent growth comes from new brands with eye-catching labels and clever names.  Also contributing to this growth is the ongoing strength of the Canadian dollar which has made California wines more competitive compared to wines from other major wine regions.  Our continued success with premium wines in the Quebec market and in LCBO VINTAGES, indicates that Canadian consumers see good value in California at all price points,” said Slomka.

“In a challenging economy, the UK wine market does not stand still, and new sectors and opportunities have arisen.  California has been responsive to these, and has built on the bedrock of its major branded wines with successes in the independent retail sector and on-trade outlets.  Growth in these areas introduces our wines to new audiences, and enables California to demonstrate its diversity at higher price points.  This growth is by no means exhausted, and augurs well for the future here,” said John McLaren, Wine Institute Trade Director for the United Kingdom. 

“California wines fared well in most European countries.  In Sweden for instance, sales growth of California wines were the highest of all wine supplying countries in Sweden.  The story was similar in Germany, where California again experienced the highest growth rate of all wine exporting countries.  However, a significant portion of California wine imported into Germany is re-exported and actually sold in other European markets.  Additionally, as a word of caution, the 10 percent change in the Euro/Dollar exchange rate of the past few months may have an effect on exports to Europe in early 2012,” said Paul Molleman, Wine Institute’s Trade Director for Continental Europe.

“The outlook in the world’s emerging wine markets remains positive as most markets continued to post strong gains in 2011.  Hong Kong remained California’s third largest export market by value, although growth slowed to 39 percent from 150 percent in 2010 compared to 2009.  China’s growth remained buoyant at 42 percent compared to 2010 and is now the fifth largest export market by value, up two places from last year.  Vietnam posted the strongest year-over-year gains (+266 percent) among the top 25 markets.  Elsewhere, there is significant optimism in South Korea due to the recent ratification of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and in Mexico where the 20 percent import tax on California wines was repealed in late October 2011,” commented Eric Pope, Wine Institute’s Regional Director, Emerging Markets. 

“U.S. bulk wine exports to Japan have been growing as major Japanese importers are now importing popular-priced California wine brands in bulk and bottling in Japan.  This reduces the burdensome import duty to a certain extent and makes inventory control easier.  As per bottled U.S. wine, Japan is now importing more expensive California wines than in the past.  Unlike other new world wine exporting countries, California wine is well represented at high-end restaurants because of our successful annual restaurant promotion,” reported Wine Institute Trade Director in Japan, Ken-ichi Hori. 

Since 1985, Wine Institute has served as the administrator of the Market Access Program, an export promotion program managed by the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.  For more information, see: wineinstitute.org.

Now that most Californians have received their tax materials and are getting ready to file their 2011 personal income tax returns, the Board of Equalization wants to remind taxpayers not to forget to include the “use tax” they owe on purchases made from out-of-state online and mail order retailers, or purchased from an out-of-state retailer and brought back into California. 

(Yeah, right.)

 To help make the reporting process more convenient, the BOE, working with the California Franchise Tax Board, has made available an easy-to-read reference guide, the Use Tax Lookup Table. Californians will find the table included in the instructions that accompany tax Forms 540, 540A, and 540 2EZ, and on the BOE website at boe.ca.gov/pdf/2011UseTaxTable.pdf, providing a simple way to estimate use tax, based on California Adjusted Gross Income, on any number of non-business purchases less than $1,000 each.

 What is “use tax”?

In its simplest form, it is tax due on any item bought from an out-of-state retailer that will be “used” in California that if purchased in the state would have been subject to sales tax. Generally, the use tax rate is equal to your local sales tax rate.

 While all Californians have an obligation to pay use tax, the revenue it generates for the state and local communities helps to fund important services all Californians enjoy, such as public safety, education, and transportation.

 Use tax is not an “internet tax”.  It has been on the books since 1935 to protect in-state retailers from the competitive price disadvantage held by out-of-state retailers who do not collect California tax. 

Use Tax Lookup Table CA Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) Range

Use Tax Liability

 Less Than $20,000 – $7

$20,000 to $39,999 – $21

$40,000 to $59,999 – $35

$60,000 to $79,999 – $49

$80,000 to $99,999 – $63

$100,000 to $149,999 – $88

$150,000 to $199,999 – $123

More Than $199,999 – Multiply AGI by 0.070 percent (0.0007)

 The Use Tax Look-Up Table is estimated to bring in $10.6 million annually, and the BOE says is an important tool to help close California’s $1.1 billion use tax gap.

 For more information on sales and use tax rates, visit boe.ca.gov/sutax/pam71.htm, or call us at 800-400-7115.

Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro, chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, has released the final agenda for the 39th Annual Fisheries Forum, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Room 4202 of the state Capitol. It includes a panel on the effects of marijuana growing on local watersheds.

The California Channel (calchannel.com) will webcast the entire forum live, and archive the broadcast at its website.

On the agenda are:

Agency Updates ­ Priorities for 2012

Charlton Bonham ­ Director, Department of Fish and Game

Sonke Mastrup ­ Executive Director, Fish and Game Commission

Rod McInnis ­ Regional Administrator, National Marine Fisheries Service

Committee Reports

California Advisory Committee on Salmon and Steelhead Trout ­ Vivian Helliwell

California Salmon Stamp Committee ­ Mike Ricketts

California Dungeness Crab Task Force ­ Mike Cunningham

California Sea Urchin Commission ­ Tom Trumper/Bob Bertelli

Aquaculture Development Committee ­ Tony Schuur

Ocean Science and Monitoring

Dean Wendt Ph.D. ­ SLOSEA, Center for Coastal Marine Sciences, CPSU

Dave Rudie ­ San Diego Oceans Foundation

Tuna/Herring/Abalone

Wayne Heikkila ­ Western Fishboat Owners Association

Ernie Koepf ­ California Herring Association

Jim Martin ­ Sonoma County Abalone Network

California Fisheries ­ Permits, Sustainability and Fishermen Initiatives

Ronnie Pellegrini ­ Humboldt Fisherman’s Marketing Association

Pete Halmay ­ San Diego Fishermen’s Working Group

Stephanie Mutz ­ Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, Inc

Mike McCorkle ­ Southern California Trawlers Association

Kenny Belov ­ FISH Restaurant

Groundfish

Zeke Grader ­ Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations

Roger Thomas ­ Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association

Marijuana Cultivation Impacts on Watersheds and Fish

Nancy Foley/TBD ­ Department of Fish and Game

Greg Giusti ­ UC Forest Advisor, Mendocino County

Scott Greacen ­ Friends of the Eel River

Salmon

Dave Bitts ­ Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations

Linda Sheehan ­ Earth Law Center

Victor Gonella ­ Golden Gate Salmon Association

Caleen Sisk ­ Winnemem Wintu Tribe

Aquaculture Development

Ken Beer ­ The Fishery

Greg Dale ­ Coast Seafood Oyster Co.

Mark Drawbridge ­ Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute

Don Kent ­ Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute