04/23/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/23/2025 06:54
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-CSR
CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED
MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Investment Company Act File Number: 811-04521
T. Rowe Price State Tax-FreeFunds, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
1307 Point Street, Baltimore, MD 21231
(Address of principal executive offices)
David Oestreicher
1307 Point Street, Baltimore, MD 21231
(Name and address of agent for service)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (410) 345-2000
Date of fiscal year end: February 28
Date of reporting period: February 28, 2025
Item 1. Reports to Shareholders
(a)Report pursuant to Rule 30e-1
Annual Shareholder Report
February 28, 2025
This annual shareholder report contains important information about California Tax-Free Bond Fund (the "fund") for the period of March 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025. You can find the fund's prospectus, financial information on Form N-CSR (which includes required tax information for dividends), holdings, proxy voting information, and other information atwww.troweprice.com/prospectus. You can also request this information without charge by contacting T. Rowe Price at 1-800-638-5660 or info@troweprice.comor contacting your intermediary.
Costs of a $10,000 investment
|
Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment
|
|
California Tax-Free Bond Fund - Investor Class
|
$59
|
0.58%
|
The municipal bond market delivered positive total returns for the year ended February 28, 2025, as strong demand helped absorb a record level of tax-exempt issuance during the period. Resilient economic data helped high yield and lower-rated investment-grade municipal bonds outperform higher-quality securities by a wide margin.
The portfolio's longer-than-benchmark average duration profile detracted as municipal bond yields ended the period higher except for the shortest maturities, and our positioning on the yield curve also weighed on performance to a lesser extent. A small overweight allocation to the prerefunded sector also marginally detracted from relative performance amid the risk-on environment.
The fund seeks to provide, consistent with prudent portfolio management, the highest level of income exempt from federal and California state income taxes by investing primarily in investment-grade California municipal bonds. Hospital bonds composed the fund's largest absolute allocation, while airports represented the largest overweight allocation relative to the benchmark. Elsewhere within health care, encouraging trends in fundamentals bolstered our views on hospital revenue bonds. Meanwhile, the airport sector has continued to show resilience as enplanements have fully recovered from the pandemic-induced drawdown.
Investor Class
|
Regulatory/Strategy Benchmark
|
|
2015
|
10,000
|
10,000
|
2015
|
9,947
|
9,949
|
2015
|
10,042
|
10,031
|
2015
|
10,207
|
10,184
|
2016
|
10,435
|
10,395
|
2016
|
10,636
|
10,533
|
2016
|
10,837
|
10,721
|
2016
|
10,194
|
10,162
|
2017
|
10,423
|
10,421
|
2017
|
10,690
|
10,686
|
2017
|
10,830
|
10,816
|
2017
|
10,782
|
10,729
|
2018
|
10,733
|
10,682
|
2018
|
10,864
|
10,805
|
2018
|
10,921
|
10,869
|
2018
|
10,850
|
10,851
|
2019
|
11,080
|
11,123
|
2019
|
11,463
|
11,498
|
2019
|
11,785
|
11,816
|
2019
|
11,739
|
11,772
|
2020
|
12,113
|
12,175
|
2020
|
11,622
|
11,955
|
2020
|
11,958
|
12,199
|
2020
|
12,182
|
12,348
|
2021
|
12,209
|
12,304
|
2021
|
12,487
|
12,521
|
2021
|
12,606
|
12,613
|
2021
|
12,609
|
12,592
|
2022
|
12,226
|
12,223
|
2022
|
11,621
|
11,670
|
2022
|
11,454
|
11,524
|
2022
|
11,453
|
11,504
|
2023
|
11,528
|
11,600
|
2023
|
11,662
|
11,728
|
2023
|
11,687
|
11,721
|
2023
|
11,917
|
11,996
|
2024
|
12,249
|
12,228
|
2024
|
12,171
|
12,041
|
2024
|
12,569
|
12,434
|
2024
|
12,762
|
12,588
|
2025
|
12,716
|
12,590
|
202501-4140694, 202504-4215232
F80-052 4/25
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
10 Years
|
|
California Tax-Free Bond Fund (Investor Class)
|
3.81%
|
0.98%
|
2.43%
|
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index (Regulatory/Strategy Benchmark)
|
2.96
|
0.67
|
2.33
|
The preceding line graph shows the value of a hypothetical $10,000 investment in the fund over the past 10 fiscal year periods or since inception (for funds lacking 10-year records). The fund's performance information included in the line graph and table above is compared with a regulatory required index that represents an overall securities market (Regulatory Benchmark). In addition, the line graph and table may also include one or more indexes that more closely aligns to the fund's investment strategy (Strategy Benchmark(s)). Due to new SEC Rules on shareholder reporting the fund adopted a new broad-based securities market index, referred to as the Regulatory Benchmark. Market index returns do not include expenses, which are deducted from fund returns. The fund's total return figures reflect the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, if any.Neither the fund's returns nor the index returns reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or redemptions of fund shares.The fund's past performance is not a good predictor of the fund's future performance.Updated performance information can be found at www.troweprice.com.
AAA Rated
|
12.3%
|
AA Rated
|
38.2
|
A Rated
|
20.9
|
BBB Rated
|
10.4
|
BB Rated and Below
|
3.6
|
Not Rated
|
13.0
|
U.S. Government Agency Securities
|
0.5
|
Reserves
|
1.1
|
*Credit ratings for the securities held in the Fund are provided by Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch and are converted to the Standard & Poor's nomenclature. A rating of AAA represents the highest-rated securities, and a rating of D represents the lowest rated securities. If the ratings agencies differ, the highest rating is applied to the security. If a rating is not available, the security is classified as Not Rated. The rating of the underlying investment vehicle is used to determine the creditworthiness of credit default swaps and sovereign securities. The Fund is not rated by any agency.
Transportation
|
18.2%
|
Health Care
|
15.3
|
Education
|
13.9
|
General Obligations - Local
|
9.1
|
Housing
|
8.7
|
Special Tax
|
3.8
|
Leasing
|
3.5
|
Water & Sewer
|
2.4
|
General Obligations - State
|
1.9
|
Other
|
23.2
|
If you invest directly with T. Rowe Price, you can elect to receive future shareholder reports or other important documents through electronic delivery by enrolling at www.troweprice.com/paperless. If you invest through a financial intermediary such as an investment advisor, a bank, retirement plan sponsor or a brokerage firm, please contact that organization and ask if it can provide electronic delivery.
Bloomberg does not accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data, and hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. No party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. Visit www.troweprice.com/en/us/market-data-disclosures for additional legal notices & disclaimers.
California Tax-Free Bond Fund
Investor Class (PRXCX)
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc.
1307 Point Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Annual Shareholder Report
February 28, 2025
This annual shareholder report contains important information about California Tax-Free Bond Fund (the "fund") for the period of March 1, 2024 to February 28, 2025. You can find the fund's prospectus, financial information on Form N-CSR (which includes required tax information for dividends), holdings, proxy voting information, and other information atwww.troweprice.com/prospectus. You can also request this information without charge by contacting T. Rowe Price at 1-800-638-5660 or info@troweprice.comor contacting your intermediary.
Costs of a $10,000 investment
|
Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment
|
|
California Tax-Free Bond Fund - I Class
|
$45
|
0.44%
|
The municipal bond market delivered positive total returns for the year ended February 28, 2025, as strong demand helped absorb a record level of tax-exempt issuance during the period. Resilient economic data helped high yield and lower-rated investment-grade municipal bonds outperform higher-quality securities by a wide margin.
The portfolio's longer-than-benchmark average duration profile detracted as municipal bond yields ended the period higher except for the shortest maturities, and our positioning on the yield curve also weighed on performance to a lesser extent. A small overweight allocation to the prerefunded sector also marginally detracted from relative performance amid the risk-on environment.
The fund seeks to provide, consistent with prudent portfolio management, the highest level of income exempt from federal and California state income taxes by investing primarily in investment-grade California municipal bonds. Hospital bonds composed the fund's largest absolute allocation, while airports represented the largest overweight allocation relative to the benchmark. Elsewhere within health care, encouraging trends in fundamentals bolstered our views on hospital revenue bonds. Meanwhile, the airport sector has continued to show resilience as enplanements have fully recovered from the pandemic-induced drawdown.
I Class
|
Regulatory/Strategy Benchmark
|
|
7/6/17
|
500,000
|
500,000
|
8/31/17
|
508,105
|
508,506
|
11/30/17
|
505,571
|
504,440
|
2/28/18
|
503,847
|
502,206
|
5/31/18
|
509,636
|
508,013
|
8/31/18
|
512,471
|
510,989
|
11/30/18
|
509,729
|
510,139
|
2/28/19
|
520,675
|
522,934
|
5/31/19
|
538,795
|
540,548
|
8/31/19
|
553,627
|
555,543
|
11/30/19
|
551,571
|
553,458
|
2/29/20
|
569,298
|
572,410
|
5/31/20
|
546,357
|
562,052
|
8/31/20
|
562,285
|
573,518
|
11/30/20
|
572,969
|
580,547
|
2/28/21
|
574,394
|
578,467
|
5/31/21
|
587,598
|
588,667
|
8/31/21
|
593,373
|
592,995
|
11/30/21
|
593,683
|
591,991
|
2/28/22
|
576,261
|
574,649
|
5/31/22
|
547,470
|
548,673
|
8/31/22
|
539,820
|
541,805
|
11/30/22
|
539,918
|
540,844
|
2/28/23
|
543,632
|
545,356
|
5/31/23
|
550,666
|
551,363
|
8/31/23
|
551,496
|
551,041
|
11/30/23
|
563,097
|
564,005
|
2/29/24
|
578,445
|
574,904
|
5/31/24
|
574,922
|
566,100
|
8/31/24
|
593,991
|
584,591
|
11/30/24
|
603,314
|
591,810
|
2/28/25
|
601,350
|
591,928
|
202501-4140694, 202504-4215232
F1096-052 4/25
1 Year
|
5 Years
|
Since Inception 7/6/17
|
|
California Tax-Free Bond Fund (I Class)
|
3.96%
|
1.10%
|
2.44%
|
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index (Regulatory/Strategy Benchmark)
|
2.96
|
0.67
|
2.23
|
The preceding line graph shows the value of a hypothetical $500,000 investment in the fund over the past 10 fiscal year periods or since inception (for funds lacking 10-year records). The fund's performance information included in the line graph and table above is compared with a regulatory required index that represents an overall securities market (Regulatory Benchmark). In addition, the line graph and table may also include one or more indexes that more closely aligns to the fund's investment strategy (Strategy Benchmark(s)). Due to new SEC Rules on shareholder reporting the fund adopted a new broad-based securities market index, referred to as the Regulatory Benchmark. Market index returns do not include expenses, which are deducted from fund returns. The fund's total return figures reflect the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, if any.Neither the fund's returns nor the index returns reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on fund distributions or redemptions of fund shares.The fund's past performance is not a good predictor of the fund's future performance.Updated performance information can be found at www.troweprice.com.
AAA Rated
|
12.3%
|
AA Rated
|
38.2
|
A Rated
|
20.9
|
BBB Rated
|
10.4
|
BB Rated and Below
|
3.6
|
Not Rated
|
13.0
|
U.S. Government Agency Securities
|
0.5
|
Reserves
|
1.1
|
*Credit ratings for the securities held in the Fund are provided by Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch and are converted to the Standard & Poor's nomenclature. A rating of AAA represents the highest-rated securities, and a rating of D represents the lowest rated securities. If the ratings agencies differ, the highest rating is applied to the security. If a rating is not available, the security is classified as Not Rated. The rating of the underlying investment vehicle is used to determine the creditworthiness of credit default swaps and sovereign securities. The Fund is not rated by any agency.
Transportation
|
18.2%
|
Health Care
|
15.3
|
Education
|
13.9
|
General Obligations - Local
|
9.1
|
Housing
|
8.7
|
Special Tax
|
3.8
|
Leasing
|
3.5
|
Water & Sewer
|
2.4
|
General Obligations - State
|
1.9
|
Other
|
23.2
|
If you invest directly with T. Rowe Price, you can elect to receive future shareholder reports or other important documents through electronic delivery by enrolling at www.troweprice.com/paperless. If you invest through a financial intermediary such as an investment advisor, a bank, retirement plan sponsor or a brokerage firm, please contact that organization and ask if it can provide electronic delivery.
Bloomberg does not accept any liability for any errors or omissions in the indexes or data, and hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. No party may rely on any indexes or data contained in this communication. Visit www.troweprice.com/en/us/market-data-disclosures for additional legal notices & disclaimers.
California Tax-Free Bond Fund
I Class (TCFEX)
T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc.
1307 Point Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21231
Item 1. (b) Notice pursuant to Rule 30e-3.
Not applicable.
Item 2. Code of Ethics.
The registrant has adopted a code of ethics, as defined in Item 2 of Form N-CSR,applicable to its principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. A copy of this code of ethics is filed as an exhibit to this Form N-CSR.No substantive amendments were approved or waivers were granted to this code of ethics during the period covered by this report.
Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert.
The registrant's Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Paul F. McBride qualifies as an audit committee financial expert, as defined in Item 3 of Form N-CSR.Mr. McBride is considered independent for purposes of Item 3 of Form N-CSR.
Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
(a) - (d) Aggregate fees billed for the last two fiscal years for professional services rendered to, or on behalf of, the registrant by the registrant's principal accountant were as follows:
2025 |
2024 |
|||||||||
Audit Fees |
$33,841 | $33,158 | ||||||||
Audit-Related Fees |
- | - | ||||||||
Tax Fees |
- | - | ||||||||
All Other Fees |
- | - |
Audit fees include amounts related to the audit of the registrant's annual financial statements and services normally provided by the accountant in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. Audit-related fees include amounts reasonably related to the performance of the audit of the registrant's financial statements and specifically include the issuance of a report on internal controls and, if applicable, agreed-upon procedures related to fund acquisitions. Tax fees include amounts related to services for tax compliance, tax planning, and tax advice. The nature of these services specifically includes the review of distribution calculations and the preparation of Federal, state, and excise tax returns. All other fees include the registrant's pro-ratashare of amounts for agreed-upon procedures in conjunction with service contract approvals by the registrant's Board of Directors/Trustees.
(e)(1) The registrant's audit committee has adopted a policy whereby audit and non-auditservices performed by the registrant's principal accountant for the registrant, its investment adviser, and any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant require pre-approvalin advance at regularly scheduled audit committee meetings. If such a service is required between regularly scheduled audit committee meetings, pre-approvalmay be authorized by one audit committee member with ratification at the next scheduled audit committee meeting. Waiver of pre-approvalfor audit or non-auditservices requiring fees of a de minimis amount is not permitted.
(2) No services included in (b) - (d) above were approved pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01of Regulation S-X.
(f) Less than 50 percent of the hours expended on the principal accountant's engagement to audit the registrant's financial statements for the most recent fiscal year were attributed to work performed by persons other than the principal accountant's full-time, permanent employees.
(g) The aggregate fees billed for the most recent fiscal year and the preceding fiscal year by the registrant's principal accountant for non-auditservices rendered to the registrant, its investment adviser, and any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant were $1,818,000 and $1,180,000, respectively.
(h) All non-auditservices rendered in (g) above were pre-approvedby the registrant's audit committee. Accordingly, these services were considered by the registrant's audit committee in maintaining the principal accountant's independence.
(i) Not applicable.
(j) Not applicable.
Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants.
Not applicable.
Item 6. Investments.
(a) Not applicable. The complete schedule of investments is included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.
(b) Not applicable.
Item 7. Financial Statements and Financial Highlights for Open-EndManagement Investment Companies.
(a - b) Report pursuant to Regulation S-X.
Item 8. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants for Open-EndManagement Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 9. Proxy Disclosures for Open-EndManagement Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 10. Remuneration Paid to Directors, Officers, and Others of Open-EndManagement Investment Companies.
Remuneration paid to Directors is included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.
Item 11. Statement Regarding Basis for Approval of Investment Advisory Contract.
If applicable, see Item 7.
Item 12. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for Closed-EndManagement Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 13. Portfolio Managers of Closed-EndManagement Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 14. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-EndManagement Investment Company and Affiliated Purchasers.
Not applicable.
Item 15. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
There has been no change to the procedures by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the registrant's board of directors.
Item 16. Controls and Procedures.
(a) The registrant's principal executive officer and principal financial officer have evaluated the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures within 90 days of this filing and have concluded that the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures were effective, as of that date, in ensuring that information required to be disclosed by the registrant in this Form N-CSRwas recorded, processed, summarized, and reported timely.
(b) The registrant's principal executive officer and principal financial officer are aware of no change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.
Item 17. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-EndManagement Investment Companies.
Not applicable.
Item 18. Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation.
Not applicable.
Item 19. Exhibits.
(a)(1) |
The registrant's code of ethics pursuant to Item 2 of Form N-CSR is attached. |
|
(2) |
Listing standards relating to recovery of erroneously awarded compensation: not applicable. |
|
(3) |
Separate certifications by the registrant's principal executive officer and principal financial officer, pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, are attached. |
|
(b) |
A certification by the registrant's principal executive officer and principal financial officer, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and required by Rule 30a-2(b) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, is attached. |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
T. Rowe Price State Tax-FreeFunds, Inc. |
||||
By |
/s/ David Oestreicher |
|||
David Oestreicher |
||||
Principal Executive Officer |
||||
Date |
April 21, 2025 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
By |
/s/ David Oestreicher |
|||
David Oestreicher |
||||
Principal Executive Officer |
||||
Date |
April 21, 2025 |
|||
By |
/s/ Alan S. Dupski |
|||
Alan S. Dupski |
||||
Principal Financial Officer |
||||
Date |
April 21, 2025 |