Sales tax revenues fall again

Taxable sales in Nevada fell 10.9 percent in November to $3.38 billion. Eleven of the 17 counties reported decreases compared to November 2007.

For the third month in a row, the news was much worse in Carson City, where sales fell 23.4 percent to $59.7 million.

Carson City's drop was driven primarily by the 30-percent reduction in sales of automobiles, traditionally the largest sales tax category. Sales fell from nearly $17 million a year ago to $11.9 million in November.

General merchandise stores were Carson's largest tax category at $12.3 million. That number was down 11 percent from a year ago.

They weren't alone. The miscellaneous retail category was down 9 percent, building material sales were off 14.6 percent and electronics and appliance sales 19.4 percent.

Taxable sales in the capital fell 14.5 percent in October and more than 10 percent in September.

"It's like they just stopped spending," said Carson City Finance Director Nick Providenti.

He said Carson City has adjusted its budget to account for the economy and is close to projections.

"We actually figured November and December would be really bad," he said.

He said the city should be able to survive this fiscal year using reserves, without having to do anything drastic.

"We basically figured we were going to be down 11 percent for the year," he said.

He said he is hoping January and February will be better. He said the Sportsman's Warehouse should open in March.

"That should be new money since that's a store we don't have in Carson."

Providenti said Dick Campagni and Michael Hohl are planning to break ground on new auto sales stores on south Carson Street "soon."

Altogether, four Nevada counties reported year-over-year declines in taxable sales of more than 20 percent. In addition to Carson City, Douglas was down 21.7 percent, Eureka 21 percent and Lincoln 21.2 percent. Esmeralda was close behind at 19.5 percent down.

Douglas reported $43.7 million in taxable sales for November.

The Clark County report, with $2.5 billion in sales, was down 11.3 percent and Washoe, at $458 million, was down 14.3 percent.

There were also several counties which fared well in November. Lander was up 56.8 percent with solid growth in areas including chemical manufacturing, wholesalers of durable goods and machinery manufacturing. Wholesalers of durable goods also added $4.5 million to Humboldt County's $43.6 million total for the month.

In Storey, the 18.5 percent increase was almost entirely attributable to the utilities category, which added $6.5 million to the $9.9 million totals there. And Elko, with the mines still strong, reported a 9.5 percent growth over November 2007 to $90.7 million.

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