Crews complete finishing work on the new McDonald's in Minden in late May. The restaurant is expected to open before the end of June.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Douglas County merchants joined the rest of the state in posting a huge year-over-year surge in taxable sales for the month of March, according to the most recent figures released by the Nevada Department of Taxation.
The county’s taxable sales for March 2021 jumped 50.3% to $88.56 million, nearly $30 million more than a year ago, according to the department’s May 24 report.Major increases were expected, considering Gov. Steve Sisolak mandated the closure of most Silver State businesses halfway through March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A key source of the YOY increase in Douglas County was the nearly doubling of sales in food services and drinking places, which raised $11.28 million during the month. Driven by the Stateline casinos, accommodations also posted a big increase, up 127% to $2.90 million, while the amusement, gambling and recreation sector went up 222% to $1.45 million.
General merchandise stores took first place as the county’s largest sector with $11.37 million in taxable sales during the month, up 27%. Nonstore retailers continued to benefit from habits developed during the lockdown, with $9.5 million in sales, up 55% from March 2020.
Motor vehicle and parts dealers had $6.1 million in taxable sales, up 162% from the previous year, while building materials, garden equipment and supplies was up 51% to $6.5 million.
While not quite as exuberant, the county’s industrial sectors generated increases in March with merchant wholesalers of durable goods up 12.4%.
Douglas County taxable sales are ahead 15.5% for the current fiscal year (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) compared to a year ago, with $724,464,940 recorded as of the end of March.
As for the entire state, Nevada recorded more than $6.6 billion in taxable sales in March 2021, a 45.5% YOY increase from roughly $4.5 billion a year ago. For the current fiscal year, Nevada is now ahead 0.3%, with $48.1 billion recorded as of the end of March.
Other March 2021 taxable sales highlights are as follows:- Washoe County saw a 49.4% YOY increase with $1.03 billion in taxable sales, compared to the roughly $687 million recorded a year ago. So far this fiscal year, Washoe is ahead 13.6% with $7.9 billion recorded as of the end of March 2021, compared to $6.98 billion from a year ago.
- Carson City saw a 46.4% YOY increase with $146 million in taxable sales, compared to $93.5 million a year ago. This fiscal year, Carson City is ahead 20.3% with $1.13 billion, compared to $937 million a year ago.
- Down south, Clark County, the state’s biggest taxable sales contributor, saw a 45.4% YOY increase with $4.6 billion, compared to $3.2 billion a year ago. This fiscal year, Clark is still down -3.7% with $33.6 billion compared to $34.9 billion a year ago.
The Nevada Department of Taxation's April 2021 report should be published in late June.NNBW Editor Kevin MacMillan contributed to this report.
