485BPOS 2012-05-31 0000720064 2012-10-01 DREYFUS PREMIER CALIFORNIA AMT-FREE MUNICIPAL BOND FUND, INC. false 2012-09-26 2012-10-01 The fund is non-diversified, meaning that a relatively high percentage of the fund's assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers. Therefore, the fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund. <tt>The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and <br />sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio <br />turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher <br />taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which <br />are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, <br />affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the <br />fund's portfolio turnover rate was 20.88% of the average value of its <br />portfolio.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/ExpenseExample_S000000016Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/BarChartData_S000000016Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>The fund seeks as high a level of current income, exempt from federal and<br />California state income taxes, as is consistent with the preservation of<br />capital.</tt> <tt>The Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund<br />with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you<br />invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all <br />of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your<br />investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses<br />remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on<br />these assumptions your costs would be:</tt> reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes <tt>To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests substantially all of its net assets <br />in municipal bonds that provide income exempt from federal and California state <br />income taxes. The fund also seeks to provide income exempt from the federal <br />alternative minimum tax. The fund invests at least 80% of its assets in municipal <br />bonds rated investment grade (Baa/BBB or higher) or the unrated equivalent as <br />determined by The Dreyfus Corporation. For additional yield, the fund may invest <br />up to 20% of its assets in municipal bonds rated below investment grade ("high <br />yield" or "junk" bonds) or the unrated equivalent as determined by The Dreyfus <br />Corporation. The dollar-weighted average maturity of the fund's portfolio normally <br />exceeds ten years, but the fund may invest without regard to maturity.<br /><br />The portfolio managers focus on identifying undervalued sectors and securities. To <br />select municipal bonds for the fund, the portfolio managers use fundamental credit <br />analysis to estimate the relative value and attractiveness of various sectors and <br />securities and actively trade among various sectors, based on their apparent <br />relative values.<br /> <br />Although the fund seeks to provide income exempt from federal and California state <br />income taxes, the fund may invest temporarily in taxable bonds and/or municipal <br />bonds that pay income exempt only from federal income tax, including when the <br />portfolio managers believe acceptable California municipal bonds are not available <br />for investment.</tt> Fund Summary You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in certain funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds. Example After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal tax rates, and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Investment Objective The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes dramatically, which means you could lose money. Principal Risks Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) 0.2088 Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. Year-by-Year Total Returns as of 12/31 each year (%) -- Class Z Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those shown. Performance 50000 The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. <tt>Best Quarter Q3, 2009: 8.07% <br />Worst Quarter Q4, 2010: -6.01% <br /><br />The year-to-date total return of the fund's Class Z shares as of 6/30/12 was 4.50%.</tt> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) Average Annual Total Returns (as of 12/31/11) <tt>The bar chart shows changes in the performance of the fund's Class Z shares <br />from year to year. Sales charges, if any, are not reflected in the bar chart, <br />and if those charges were included, returns would have been less than those <br />shown.</tt> Portfolio Turnover <tt>An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by <br />the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. It <br />is not a complete investment program. The fund's share price fluctuates, sometimes <br />dramatically, which means you could lose money.<br /> <br />o Municipal bond market risk. The amount of public information available about<br />municipal bonds is generally less than that for corporate equities or bonds.<br />Special factors, such as legislative changes, and state and local economic and<br />business developments, may adversely affect the yield and/or value of the fund's<br />investments in municipal bonds. Other factors include the general conditions of<br />the municipal bond market, the size of the particular offering, the maturity of<br />the obligation and the rating of the issue. Changes in economic, business or<br />political conditions relating to a particular municipal project, municipality,<br />or state in which the fund invests may have an impact on the fund's share price.<br /> <br />o Interest rate risk. Prices of municipal bonds tend to move inversely with changes <br />in interest rates. Typically, a rise in rates will adversely affect bond prices and, <br />accordingly, the fund's share price. The longer the effective maturity and duration <br />of the fund's portfolio, the more the fund's share price is likely to react to <br />interest rates.<br /> <br />o Credit risk. Failure of an issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, <br />or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of a municipal bond, <br />can cause the bond's price to fall, potentially lowering the fund's share price. <br />The lower a bond's credit rating, the greater the chance - in the rating agency's <br />opinion - that the bond issuer will default or fail to meet its payment obligations. <br />To the extent the fund invests in high yield ("junk") bonds, its portfolio is subject <br />to heightened credit risk.<br /> <br />o Liquidity risk. When there is little or no active trading market for specific types <br />of securities, it can become more difficult to sell the securities at or near their <br />perceived value. In such a market, the value of such securities and the fund's share <br />price may fall dramatically, even during periods of declining interest rates. The <br />secondary market for certain municipal bonds tends to be less well developed or liquid <br />than many other securities markets, which may adversely affect the fund's ability to <br />sell such municipal bonds at attractive prices.<br /> <br />o State-specific risk. The fund is subject to the risk that California's economy, and <br />the revenues underlying its municipal bonds, may decline. Investing primarily in a <br />single state makes the fund more sensitive to risks specific to the state and may <br />magnify other risks.<br /> <br />o Non-diversification risk. The fund is non-diversified, meaning that a relatively <br />high percentage of the fund's assets may be invested in a limited number of issuers. <br />Therefore, the fund's performance may be more vulnerable to changes in the market <br />value of a single issuer or group of issuers and more susceptible to risks associated <br />with a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence than a diversified fund.</tt> Fees and Expenses After-tax performance is shown only for Class Z shares. After-tax performance of the fund's other share classes will vary. Principal Investment Strategy www.dreyfus.com <tt>The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing <br />in the fund. The table compares the average annual total returns of the fund's <br />shares to those of a broad measure of market performance. The fund's past performance <br />(before and after taxes) is no guarantee of future results. More recent performance <br />information may be available at www.dreyfus.com.</tt> <tt>This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold<br />shares of the fund. This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay<br />if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge<br />discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at<br />least $50,000 in certain funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds. More information<br />about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional<br />and in the Shareholder Guide section on page 9 of the prospectus and in the How<br />to Buy Shares section and the Additional Information About How to Buy Shares<br />section on page II-1 and page III-1, respectively, of the fund's Statement of<br />Additional Information. Class A shares bought without an initial sales charge as<br />part of an investment of $1 million or more may be charged a deferred sales<br />charge of 1.00% if redeemed within one year.</tt> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/OperatingExpensesData_S000000016Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/PerformanceTableData_S000000016Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_PerformanceMeasureAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <tt>After-tax performance is shown only for Class Z shares. After-tax performance of <br />the fund's other share classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated using <br />the historical highest individual federal marginal tax rates, and do not reflect <br />the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the <br />investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown, and the after tax <br />returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their shares through <br />tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.<br /><br />Performance figures for the fund's Class A, Class C and Class I shares for<br />periods prior to the inception date of such classes reflect the performance of<br />the fund's Class Z shares adjusted to reflect any applicable sales charge. Such<br />performance figures have not been adjusted, however, to reflect applicable class<br />fees and expenses; if such fees and expenses had been reflected, the performance<br />shown for Class A and Class C shares for such periods may have been lower.</tt> An investment in the fund is not a bank deposit. It is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or any other government agency. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/ExpenseExampleNoRedemption_S000000016Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dreyfus.com/role/ShareholderFeesData_S000000016Member column dei_LegalEntityAxis compact * column rr_ProspectusShareClassAxis compact * row primary compact * ~</div> Barclays Municipal Bond Index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes 0.1070 0.0522 0.0538 Class Z returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares 0.0919 0.0418 0.0465 1983-07-26 Class Z returns after taxes on distributions 0.1179 0.0420 0.0469 1983-07-26 DCMIX 0.0000 Class I returns before taxes 69 69 218 847 379 0.1177 0.0008 0.0060 847 0.0422 218 379 0.0000 0.0477 0.0068 2008-12-15 0.0000 DCAAX 0.0450 Class A returns before taxes 541 541 733 1542 942 0.0656 0.0033 0.0060 1542 0.0303 733 942 0.0000 0.0412 0.0093 2004-10-21 0.0000 DCACX 0.0000 Class C returns before taxes 269 169 523 1965 902 0.0961 0.0031 0.0060 1965 0.0316 523 902 0.0075 0.0401 0.0166 2004-10-21 0.0100 DRCAX 0.0811 Worst Quarter Best Quarter 0.0000 2012-06-30 Class Z returns before taxes 75 2009-09-30 75 233 -0.0601 0.0467 0.0083 906 406 0.0188 0.0807 0.1179 0.0013 -0.0591 0.0060 2010-12-31 906 0.1370 0.0420 0.0413 233 406 The year-to-date total return 0.1179 0.0485 0.0000 0.0476 0.0073 0.0485 1983-07-26 0.0450 0.0000 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberck0000720064:C000000023Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberck0000720064:C000001376Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberck0000720064:C000001378Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberck0000720064:C000073387Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMemberck0000720064:C000000023Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberrr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMemberck0000720064:C000000023Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Memberck0000720064:RRINDEX00001Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 ck0000720064:SummaryS000000016Memberck0000720064:S000000016Member 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 0000720064 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 pure iso4217:USD