Carson City's taxable sales grew by 3.1 percent in April, a sign the local economy may have reached its bottom, said Larry Werner, city manager.
Statewide, taxable sales grew in April compared to the same month a year ago - the first increase in 20 months, according to a report released Monday by the state Department of Taxation. April was the second positive month for Carson City this year after a .5 percent bump in February, which happened after 14 months of declines.
"We're happy with the numbers," Werner said. "If the trend continues we'll be in fairly decent shape."
Still, sales are down 11.6 percent in Carson City for the 10 months since the fiscal year started on July 1, 2009. Statewide sales are down 11.9 percent.
The $55.2 million worth of goods and services sold in April in Carson City was largely helped by auto dealerships, which marked another double-digit bump of 11.5 percent for
$13.8 million. That increase comes after a 22.4 percent and 21 percent jump for auto dealers in March and February, respectively.
April marked the first positive month for Carson City's restaurants and bars since December 2008, recording a 6.5 percent increase for $6.3 million. Even furniture retailers grew by .03 percent to $835,855.
Other retailers in the capital city, however, continued to struggle, including the city's second largest tax generator, general merchandise, which fell 12.8 percent to $9.4 million. Electronics and appliance retailers also fell 13.4 percent to $671,813 despite a government rebate program that offered customers up to $200 for energy efficient refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and dishwashers.
Werner said April's increase means the overall decline is softening.
"Since the numbers are not going down that far it's actually showing an increase in our revenues," Werner said. "We're going down at a much slower rate. It's not dropping as fast as our predictions indicated and for us that's a positive."
Sales in Clark County grew by 3.5 percent in April while Washoe County fell by 7.1 percent.
Statewide, construction activity marked another decline, falling 32.1 percent in April, while auto dealers and furniture stores recorded double digit increases.