State taxable sales up 7.6% for fiscal year

Both the state and Carson City closed out the fiscal year with strong taxable sales in June.

The state as a whole was up 7.9 percent to $3.91 billion in June. The state finished the year 7.6 percent ahead of fiscal 2011.

Carson City was up 9.3 percent to $70.48 million and finished the fiscal year at $756.1 million. While that is just 2.8 percent above the previous fiscal year, Carson City Finance Director Nick Providenti said it happened because a strong second half of the year.

He said that five months into fiscal 2011, the capital was 2.6 percent behind. Starting with strong sales in December, he said, the capital's taxable sales rebounded.

Providenti said that nets out to $230,000 and 1.25 percent more revenue than the city projected this past fiscal year. The net was just a hair more than $19 million compared with $18.78 million that was budgeted.

The vast majority of the increase in June came in a single category, wholesalers of durable goods, which more than doubled to $7.5 million.

Details of exactly what led to the increase are kept confidential by the Department of Taxation, but that category includes wholesale purchases of everything from motor vehicles, machinery and electronics to furniture and construction materials. When those items are sold at retail, they are logged in individual sales categories.

Auto sales also helped Carson City with a 7.8 percent increase to $15.5 million. But the capital's other large category, general merchandise stores, was down 1.1 percent to $11.4 million.

Churchill County reported a 21 percent increase to $27.57 million - a $5.2 million increase.

Nearly all of the Churchill increase came from the electrical equipment and appliance manufacturing category, which increased from $1,819 a year ago to $4.88 million this June. Auto sales made up the rest with a 23.4 percent increase to $3.19 million.

Statewide, the wholesale of durable goods, auto sales and accommodations all reported increases in the high teens while general merchandise and the food and drink categories were essentially flat.

Of Nevada's 17 counties, 13 were up in June. Eureka, Pershing, White Pine and - in western Nevada - and Lyon County were down. Lyon was off 8.9 percent.

Douglas County was in the black with $50.59 million in sales - a 3.4 percent increase. While some other categories were flat or down, Douglas' biggest tax generator, eating and drinking place sales from the Tahoe casinos, was up 14.8 percent to $11.1 million.

The state General Fund portion of tax collections in June was up 5.4 percent to $79.19 million. Total collections through June are 5.1 percent or $40.9 million ahead of the forecast by the Economic Forum.

County Taxable Sales Change from 6/12

Statewide $3.9 billion 7.9%

Carson City $70.48 million 9.3%

Churchill $27.57 million 21%

Clark County $2.85 billion 8.9%

Douglas $50.59 million 3.4%

Lyon $34.29 million -8.9%

Storey $7.3 million 22.4%

Washoe $497.23 million 3%