General Merchandise saw an increase in taxable sales for April.
Statewide, taxable sales were $4.36 billion in April. That’s a 5.9 percent increase over April 2015. Auto sales helped lead the way with a 10.3 percent increase with Food Services close behind at 6.7 percent.
In Churchill County, several major increases contributed to a 61.5 percent increase from $14 million to $22.6 million in taxable sales. The biggest single jump was in building material sales which grew from $1.6 million to $5.7 million.
Food manufacturing in Churchill grew from a tiny $49,940 a year ago to $1.3 million.
County Controller Alan Kalt is questioning the increase in that category with the state Department of Taxation.
There also were smaller but solid increases in a variety of other categories. Kalt said General Merchandise showed an increase, which is good for the county. Walmart is included in that category.
Furthermore, Kalt said adjustments were made in the Utilities category that includes geothermal.
In Lyon County, the story wasn’t nearly as good, but it was all attributable to a single category that spikes up big time a year ago. Electronics and Appliances store sales dropped from $30.5 million in April 2015 to a much more normal $273,941 this April.
A 21.5 percent increase in auto sales drove a near double-digit increase in Carson City’s taxable sales in April.
The capital’s car dealers sold a total of $24.9 million worth of vehicles.
That was backed up by a 6.5 percent increase in building material sales — a total of $11.3 million. Carson’s other major tax producers, General Merchandise Stores increased 3.4 percent to $11.3 million while Food Services and Drinking Places reported just more than $8 million in sales, a 5.2 percent rise.
Overall, Carson sales were $82.3 million, up 9.3 percent from the previous April.
Douglas County did nearly as well as Carson City, growing 8.6 percent to $50.3 million in April.
Food Services and Drinking Places — Douglas’s largest sales tax generator — grew 23.4 percent to $11.3 million. There too, auto sales gave total sales a big boost. The total of $3.8 million is 28.8 percent more than a year ago.
Washoe County had an even better month, reporting a 20.6 percent increase to $630.7 million.
Auto sales accounted for some $15 million of that increase ($97.1 million total) and at $90.2 million, Food Services and Drinking Places accounted for $10 million of the increase. Building materials increased by nearly $3.5 million and a number of other categories by $2 million or more to make up a total increase of nearly $102 million.