June taxable sales up 4.7 percent

Taxable sales rose 4.7 percent statewide in June to $4.15 billion.

But Carson City didn’t share in the good news as total sales fell 1.6 percent to $69.5 million.

The gain was led by Clark County, which reported just more than $3 billion in taxable sales, an 8 percent increase and Washoe County where total sales increased 7.3 percent to $565.6 million.

Wholesalers of durable goods showed a 12.7 percent increase.

Despite the overall increase, 11 of Nevada’s 17 counties reported decreases when compared to the previous June.

In Carson City, auto sales — the biggest taxable sales category — were essentially flat, but general merchandise stores — normally the second largest tax generator — was down 25.3 percent.

Churchill County suffered a 34.5 percent decrease to $19.76 million. One big drop was in the utilities category, which went from $4.77 million a year ago to just $76,651 in sales this June. A similar dip was reported in construction of buildings where last year’s $1.96 million became $48,342 this June.

Douglas County reported a 6.6 percent increase to $56.3 million despite a 4 percent decrease in eating and drinking places, Douglas’s largest tax generator.

Building materials sales increased 13 percent to $5.89 million and auto sales 53.6 percent to $3.7 million.

Lyon County was flat at a tenth-of-a-percent up, reporting $33.2 million in taxable sales.

Storey County reported a 74 percent increase with large jumps in non-store Retailers and building materials sales. Building materials increased more than 1,200 percent to more than $1 million. Most economic activity in Storey is tied to the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center.