September sales up 5.1 percent statewide but nearly 14 percent in Carson

Statewide taxable sales totaled $4.45 billion in September, a 5.1 percent increase.

Churchill County, however, had a rough month. Taxable sales were down 16 percent compared with a year ago to $19.36 million.

Comptroller Alan Kalt said the decrease came after a review of the tax numbers.

“The decrease is due in part to the correction of errors by the Department of Taxation related to a taxpayer who has been filing returns for Churchill County instead of Clark County since December 2014,” Kalt said.

According to Kalt, the wrong information was entered in Clothing Stores and Clothing Stores Accessories, and another error occurred in Support Activity for Mining.

For the month, September showed mixed results in Durable and Nondurable Goods. Durable Goods fell 25 percent to $730,444, while Nondurable increased 13.9 percent to $487,953.

Two strong indicators for the month occurred in Motor Vehicles and Parts Dealers, finishing at $3.5 million, up 36 percent from the same time in 2014. General Merchandise Stores, which includes Walmart, rose.2 percent to $3.2 million.

Because of a lack of major construction, Kalt said Food Services and Drinking Places dropped 17 percent to $3.1 million.

Furthermore, because of the adjustment, the quarterly tax adjustment now shows a an increase of 7.4 percent for the first quarter, which began July 1. He said Churchill County has taken in $62.6 million based on 2,186 filing locations.

Neighboring Lyon County didn’t enjoy the solid increases of some other parts of western Nevada but, nonetheless, finished up 2.9 percent for the month at $31.47 million.

But things were much better in Carson City, which reported a 13.9 percent increase in taxable sales for the month.

Several major categories showed double-digit increases in the capital, led by a 19.6 percent increase in motor vehicle sales to $22.5 million. That is more than a quarter of the total $80.16 million in sales for Carson City.

In addition, building material sales were up 40.8 percent to $8.55 million, furniture sales by 48.3 percent to more than $1 million and clothing/accessory sales by 153 percent to more than $1 million. Food and drinking establishments saw an 11.8 percent increase to $8.7 million.

Finally, miscellaneous manufacturing increased more than 226 percent to $1.57 million.

Carson wasn’t the only reporting area with a strong September performance. Most of Western Nevada did well.

Douglas County saw an 11.1 percent increase to $61.3 million. Again, auto sales were important, notching a 32.8 percent increase to $2.67 million.

But the real driver in Douglas County came from the casinos at South Shore as food services and drinking places reported a 51.2 percent increase to $17.7 million in September.

Washoe County had a 12.3 percent overall increase — $633.3 million — with auto sales accounting for $92.2 million, a 17.3 percent rise compared to September 2014. Building materials sales were double-digit as well, $35.7 million total for a 10.3 percent increase, as was food services and drinking places with $92.8 million, a 14.4 percent increase.

Storey County, buoyed by the booming growth at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, reported an 83.6 percent increase in total sales to more than $19 million.

Clark County was up but only by a modest 4.8 percent. Taxable sales there totaled $3.3 billion in September.