September sales taxes up statewide and in Carson City

Churchill County taxable sales were up 10.9 percent for September despite a huge drop in the Utilities category from $4.2 million to just $200,578 because of alternative energy tax credits paid back to the state.

The county finished the month up about $2.3 million to more than $23 million in sales. More than half of the increase was in the Food Services and Drinking Places category which was up $1.4 million to $3.8 million.

Other areas hurt by the tax credits included Specialty Trae Contractors, down 37 percent from $1.4 million to $870,180.

On the other hand, Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable and Durable goods each slipped. Nondurable 10.3 percent to $427,48, while Durable saw a 9 percent difference from a year ago.

Other areas of interest to Churchill County included Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealer, down 8.6 percent to $2.6 million; Food and Beverage Stores, up 18.9 percent to $1.1 million; and Credit Intermediation, surging 3,103.7 percent to $746,000.

Two categorizes that reflect the addition of specialty stores this year include Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores with an increase of 128.7 percent to $297,319, and Sporting Goods showing an up-tick of 98 percent to $213,000.

Repair and Maintenance finished with an improvement of 32 percent to just over $1 million.

Lyon County taxable sales fell 9.7 percent to $30.6 million. The biggest decline was in auto sales, down 24.4 percent to $2.1 million.

Total gross revenue collections from the sales and use tax were just more than $329 million. The state General Fund portion of that is $82.2 million, a 6.3 percent increase over the prior year. That leaves the General Fund portion nine tenths below the Economic Forum projections for the fiscal year through September.

Statewide and in Clark, the Accommodations category led the way with an 84 percent increase. Miscellaneous Retailers also were up dramatically, nearly 117 percent. Food Services and Drinking Places were up more than 12 percent.

Douglas County was down just more than 3 percent in September to $55.2 million. Car sales were off 7.7 percent to $2 million and Food Services and Drinking Places, the county’s largest sales tax producer, down 4.6 percent to $11.7 million.

Despite weak performance by auto dealers and general merchandise stores — Carson City’s two biggest taxable sales categories — the capital reported a 6.3 percent increase in total sales for September.

Car sales were up just 5.5 percent to $18.8 million and General Merchandise Stores up just nine-tenths to $11.4 million.

Other categories including metal manufacturing, specialty trade contractors and wholesalers of durable goods all reported double digit increases.

And construction of buildings reported a 1,200 percent increase from $12,677 to $167,070.

Carson’s total sales for the month were $70.4 million, which puts the capital up 7.8 percent so far this fiscal year.

Statewide, total taxable sales finished September at $4.23 billion with all but five counties reporting an increase over the same month last year. That is a 4 percent increase, led by Clark County’s $3.15 billion in sales, a 6 percent rise over a year ago.