497K 1 filing44641992.htm PRIMARY DOCUMENT

November 1, 2011

Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the Fund online at www.franklintempleton.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or by sending an e-mail request to prospectus@franklintempleton.com. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated November 1, 2011, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.


TICKER: FCLXX
 

Franklin California
Tax-Free Trust

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

Franklin California
Tax-Exempt Money Fund

Franklin

Investment Goal

To provide investors with as high a level of income exempt from federal income taxes and California personal income taxes as is consistent with prudent investment management, the preservation of shareholders' capital and liquidity in its investments. The Fund also tries to maintain a stable $1 share price.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

These tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.


SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases  None 



ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
     
Management fees  0.49% 
Other expenses  0.05% 
Total annual Fund operating expenses  0.54% 


Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

    1 Year  3 Years  5 Years  10 Years 
    $ 55  $ 173  $ 302  $ 677 

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that pay interest free from federal income taxes, including the federal alternative minimum tax, and from California personal income taxes. The Fund may also invest up to 35% of its assets in municipal securities issued by U.S. territories. Although the Fund tries to invest all of its total assets in tax-free securities, it is possible, although not anticipated, that up to 20% of the Fund's assets may be in securities that pay taxable interest, including interest that may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund invests predominantly in high-quality, short-term, municipal securities. Many of the Fund's portfolio securities may be supported by liquidity guarantees or credit enhancements, which may be provided by banks and other financial institutions.

Portfolio maturity and quality The Fund only buys securities that the investment manager determines present minimal credit risks. The Fund maintains a dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of 60 days or less and maintains a dollar-weighted average life for its portfolio of 120 days or less, and only buys securities that:

  • mature in 397 calendar days or less, if such security is rated in the highest rating category by the requisite rating agencies, as described in applicable regulation; or
  • mature in 45 calendar days or less, if such security is rated in the second highest rating category by the requisite rating agencies, as described in applicable regulation.

A large portion or all of the Fund's portfolio securities may be invested in variable and floating rate securities the interest rates of which change either at specific intervals or whenever a benchmark rate changes. While this feature helps protect against a decline in the security's market price when interest rates rise, it lowers the Fund's income when interest rates fall.

Although the investment manager will search for investments across a large number of municipal securities that finance different types of projects, from time to time, based on economic conditions, the Fund may have significant positions in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects.

Principal Risks

Mutual fund shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.

Interest Rate   When interest rates rise, security prices fall. The opposite is also true: security prices rise when interest rates fall. In general, securities with longer maturities are more sensitive to these price changes. The Fund’s yield will vary. A sharp and unexpected rise in interest rates could cause the Fund’s share price to drop below a dollar. A low interest rate environment may prevent the Fund from providing a positive yield or paying Fund expenses out of current income and could impair the Fund’s ability to maintain a stable net asset value.

Credit   An issuer of securities may be unable to make interest payments and repay principal. Failure of an issuer to make timely interest or principal payments, or a decline or perception of a decline in the credit quality of a security, can cause the security’s price to fall, potentially lowering the Fund’s share price. Although the Fund invests predominantly in high-quality debt securities, any of the Fund’s holdings could have its credit rating downgraded or could default. The credit quality of the securities held by the Fund can change rapidly in certain market environments, and the default of a single holding could have the potential to cause significant deterioration of the Fund’s net asset value.

A change in the credit rating of any one or more of the municipal bond insurers that insure securities in the Fund’s portfolio may affect the value of the securities they insure, the Fund’s share price and Fund performance. The Fund might also be adversely impacted by the inability of an insurer to meet its insurance obligations.

Banking Industry   Because the Fund will invest in obligations for which banks and other financial institutions may provide liquidity guarantees or credit enhancements, it may be vulnerable to setbacks in that industry. Banks and other financial institutions are highly dependent on short-term interest rates and can be adversely affected by downturns in the U.S. and foreign economies or changes in banking regulations.

California and U.S. Territories   Because the Fund invests predominantly in California municipal securities, events in California are likely to affect the Fund's investments and its performance. These events may include economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, state constitutional limits on tax increases, budget deficits and other financial difficulties, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to municipal issuers of California. As with California municipal securities, events in any of the territories where the Fund is invested may affect the Fund's investments and its performance.

Tax-Exempt Securities   While the Fund endeavors to purchase only bona fide tax-exempt securities, there are risks that: (a) a security issued as tax-exempt may be reclassified as taxable by the Internal Revenue Service or a state tax authority, and/or (b) future legislative, administrative or court actions could adversely impact the qualification of income from a tax-exempt security as tax-free. Such reclassifications or actions could cause interest from a security to become taxable, possibly retroactively, subjecting you to increased tax liability.

Income   Since the Fund can only distribute what it earns, the Fund’s distributions to shareholders may decline when interest rates fall. Because the Fund limits its investments to high-quality, short-term securities, its portfolio generally will earn lower yields than a portfolio with lower-quality, longer-term securities subject to more risk.

Liquidity   This is the risk that the Fund may make investments that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perception. While the Fund endeavors to maintain a high level of liquidity in its portfolio, the liquidity of portfolio securities can deteriorate rapidly due to credit events affecting issuers or guarantors or due to general market conditions and a lack of willing buyers. When there is no willing buyer and investments cannot be readily sold at the desired time or price, the Fund may have to accept a lower price or may not be able to sell the instrument at all. An inability to sell one or more portfolio positions can adversely affect the Fund’s ability to maintain a $1.00 share price or prevent the Fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities.

Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that the Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within a short period of time because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests or other reasons. If the Fund is forced to sell securities at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions, such sales may adversely affect the Fund’s ability to maintain a $1.00 share price.

Market   The market value of securities owned by the Fund will go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. A security’s market value may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all securities. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

Focus   The Fund may invest more than 25% of its assets in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects, such as hospitals, higher education, housing, industrial development, and transportation or pollution control. A change that affects one project, such as proposed legislation on the financing of the project, a shortage of the materials needed for the project, or a declining need for the project, would likely affect all similar projects, thereby increasing market risk.

U.S. Government Securities   Not all obligations of the U.S. Government, its agencies and instrumentalities are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Some obligations are backed only by the credit of the issuing agency or instrumentality, and in some cases there may be some risk of default by the issuer. Any guarantee by the U.S. Government or its agencies or instrumentalities of a security held by the Fund does not apply to the market value of such security or to shares of the Fund itself. A security backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the United States is guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity.

Risk Associated with the Fund Holding Cash   Although the Fund seeks to be fully invested, it may at times hold some of its assets in cash, which may hurt the Fund's performance.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year for shares of the Fund. The table shows the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable. The Fund's past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS


Best Quarter:  Q3'07  0.78% 
Worst Quarter:  Q4'10  0.00% 
As of September 30, 2011, the Fund's year-to-date return was 0.00%. 



AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS For the periods ended December 31, 2010
    1 Year  5 Years  10 Years 
Franklin California Tax-Exempt Money Fund    0.00%  1.45%  1.29% 

To obtain the Fund’s current yield information, please call (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.


Investment Manager

Franklin Advisers, Inc. (Advisers)

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day online through our website at franklintempleton.com, by mail (Franklin Templeton Investor Services, P.O. Box 33030, St. Petersburg, FL 33733-8030), or by telephone at (800) 632-2301. The minimum initial purchase for most accounts is $1,000 (or $50 under an automatic investment plan).

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are primarily exempt from regular federal and state income tax for residents of California. A portion of these distributions, however, may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund may also make distributions that are taxable to you as ordinary income.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and
Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.


Franklin Templeton Investments

Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc.
One Franklin Parkway
San Mateo, CA 94403-1906
franklintempleton.com

Franklin California
Tax-Exempt Money Fund

Investment Company Act file #811-04356

© 2011 Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.

125 PSUM 11/11

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