Carson-Douglas hit hard by June tax numbers

Carson City and Douglas County were hit hard by June tax numbers, both reporting double-digit drops compared to June 2007.

In Carson City, the decrease was 19.7 percent as taxable sales fell from $97 million to $78 million.

Carson City Finance Director Nick Providenti attributed the decrease to the fact that June 2007 was an unusually high month for taxable sales " some 9 percent above the previous June. He said this June was also hurt by the economy.

"And $4 gas in June didn't help," he said.

Providenti said June 2007 was the last good month before the economic crisis began to show in the tax numbers last summer. He said he hopes June this year turns out to be an anomaly.

"We're hoping we've seen the bad news now," he said.

The most dramatic damage was in the capital's largest tax generator " motor vehicle and parts dealers " where sales fell 24.6 percent to $17 million.

Carson City Treasurer Al Kramer said he thinks auto sales are returning to a normal growth level.

"For years, we were getting double-digit increases in car sales and we kept saying, 'how can that be?'" he said. "Well, now it's settling back down."

But wholesalers of durable goods also saw a big decrease " 23 percent to $5.5 million for the month and general merchandise stores were down 9 percent to $12 million.

One bright spot was food and drinking places, which reported a 10.8 percent increase to $7.5 million.

Douglas was down almost as much as Carson City, reporting a 17.6 percent decrease in taxable sales to $57.9 million. There, motor vehicle and parts dealer sales were off by 46.4 percent to $2.3 million.

Douglas also saw double-digit decreases in several fields tied to the housing industry. Building materials and garden equipment sales fell 15 percent, while home furnishing sales dropped nearly 32 percent. General merchandise sales were off 31 percent.

And the county's largest category, food services and drinking places, saw a 15.7 percent decrease to just over $12 million.

Churchill too saw a substantial increase in taxable sales by food and drinking places " 8.2 percent to more than $3 million. That was offset by a 14 percent decrease in general merchandise stores and a 48 percent drop in building materials sales as well as a 38 percent decrease in auto and parts sales.

The county was down by 8 percent for the month to $27.1 million in taxable sales.

Lyon County also saw a decrease, but only by 6.5 percent. Total sales there were $37 million.

Storey County, which swings according to development and sales in the Reno-Tahoe Industrial Park, saw a 63.8 percent drop to $5.5 million.

Washoe County also had a bad month, reporting a 13.7 percent drop to $585.4 million in sales. Clark County, however, turned in a minimal 3.3 percent decrease to just over $3.1 billion.

As a result, the state as a whole, while the news wasn't good, fared much better with an overall decrease of 6 percent compared to June 2007. Total taxable sales were just a bit over $4.2 billion for the month.

The state finished the fiscal year at $48.2 billion, 2.5 percent down from fiscal 2007.

Driven by commercial construction in the south, specialty trade contractors showed a 35.4 percent increase in taxable sales, the best category statewide. Accommodations reported a 20 percent increase statewide.

Altogether, 13 of Nevada's 17 counties were down compared to the previous June. The only ones up compared to the previous year were Esmeralda, Humboldt, Lincoln and Mineral.

- Contact reporter Geoff Dornan at gdornan@nevadaappeal.com or 687-8750.