November Taxable Sales up 5.6 percent statewide, 16 percent in Carson

Taxable sales totaling $4.45 billion were reported by Nevada businesses in November, a 5.6 percent increase over the same month of 2015.

Carson City, however, reported an increase of 16.1 percent, almost entirely because of auto and building material sales.

Total Carson sales were $887.1 million in November, $25.46 million of that from auto sales. That is a 16.7 percent increase over the same month a year ago.

Another $8.8 million in building material sales was reported during the month, a 16.3 percent increase.

During Monday’s State of the City address, Mayor Bob Crowell said the city projected a 4 percent increase for the year, however health sales taxes look to be about an 8 percent increase year-over-year.

“Those increases in taxable sales also indicate a continuing improvement in our employment picture,” Crowell said, adding the city could have roughly a $900,000 budget surplus from taxable sales.

Statewide, general merchandise stores reported $13.6 million in taxable sales but that is just two-tenths of a percent more than a year ago.

Food services and drinking places produced an 11.6 percent increase to $7.79 million.

The biggest change was in the primary metal manufacturing category that rose nearly 700 percent to $3.86 million.

Statewide, there were strong increases in construction categories. Building material sales for example increased 12.6 percent statewide.

Food services and drinking places were up 6 percent.

Douglas County taxable sales were up 10.3 percent to $53.66 million even though the county’s largest category, food services and drinking places, was down 2.6 percent to $9.9 million.

Auto sales helped make up a lot of that loss with a 28 percent increase to $3.3 million. Building materials also jumped in Douglas by 25.9 percent to $2.9 million and non-store retailers by 10 percent to $2.2 million and wholesalers of durable goods by 58 percent to $3.8 million.

Churchill County saw a 23.3 percent increase in total taxable sales to $25.8 million in November. Auto sales accounted for a large amount of that along with building materials sales. Auto sales increased 84.6 percent to $4.36 million. Building materials increased 15.5 percent to $2 million. Finally, utilities sales increased more than 260 percent to a bit over $1 million.

Likewise, Lyon County had a strong month, reporting a 31.8 percent increase to $37.79 million. Food services and drinking places grew by 19 percent to $3.4 million, auto sales 30 percent to $4.1 million, building materials by 19 percent to $3.2 million and miscellaneous store retailers by 111 percent to $1.66 million.