Nevada's taxable sales continued their downward slide in May, for the first time dipping below the Economic Forum projections used to finalize the state budget.
Douglas reported a 19.6 percent decline to $42.6 million in sales.
Statewide, taxable sales fell to $3.19 billion - 21.1 percent less than May 2008. That translates to an 11.9 percent decrease for the 11 months of fiscal year 2009, nearly all of which was predicted by the forum.
Through April, the numbers had been a bit above the forum projection, mostly because of positive collections in the first five months of the year. With May, however, the General Fund portion of sales tax collections has now fallen $8.1 million below the forum forecast.
Sixteen Nevada counties reported a decrease in taxable sales for the month.
The picture in Carson City pretty much matched statewide numbers, as total sales fell 19.9 percent to slightly more than $61 million for the month.
Lyon fared marginally better at 16.5 percent down, a total of $24.3 million in sales.
Statewide, the only bright spot was Mineral County, which reported a 16 percent increase in total sales to $3.23 million. There, a variety of categories from motor vehicle sales to machinery manufacturing to administrative and support services showed substantial increases for the month.
In the capital, motor vehicle sales were off 25.3 percent to $14.4 million. Overall, that category is down by 30 percent for the fiscal year. The only reason auto sales reclaimed the position of Carson's biggest tax generator is the weak performance of retail merchandise categories in May. General merchandise stores reported $11.9 million in sales for the month.
Carson wasn't the only reporting area with that problem. Churchill reported a 39.5 percent drop in auto sales and Douglas a 22.4 percent drop. Clark and Washoe car sales were down 30 and 32 percent, respectively.
But worst hit statewide were the different construction industry categories which, overall, were down by 52 percent.
Gov. Jim Gibbons said the monthly report is "another sobering reminder that the economy is in dire shape."
