Taxable sales finish the year with a 3.8% increase

Taxable sales in Nevada finished 2011 with a 3.8 percent increase over December 2010.

Better, the total was up 7.5 percent for the first six months of this fiscal year, which runs from July to June.

Carson City also was up in December by 5.5 percent to $70.1 million, mostly because of an 11.1 percent increase in the capital's largest category. Auto sales made up $14.8 million of the total.

Carson City is up 3.1 percent for the first six months of this fiscal year.

One of the biggest increases for the month was in Churchill County - 69.5 percent more than the previous December and a total of $43.59 million in taxable sales. The primary reason was the utilities category, which totaled $12.8 million - 241 percent higher than the $3.75 million in utility purchases the previous year. Churchill also saw a huge increase in taxable heavy construction, from $53,485 up to $8.1 million, as well as a 13.3 percent increase in auto sales, to $2.4 million.

In Douglas County, two of the biggest categories reported substantial increases. Food Services and Drinking Places - primarily the Stateline casinos - reported $11.2 million in taxable sales, a 7.1 percent increase. Building Material sales were up 10.4 percent to more than $3 million.

Douglas is 5.2 percent ahead for this fiscal year.

Storey was down 27 percent in December, but that is because it's comparing to a December 2010 increase of 100 percent.

Lyon County was up nearly 44 percent for the month with $43 million in taxable sales.

Washoe County reported a 6.1 percent improvement for December with $579.3 million in taxable sales. That puts Washoe up 4.7 percent for the first six months of the fiscal year.

Statewide, total taxable sales for the month were $4.2 billion, up 3.8 percent. Clark County made up $2.99 billion of that - a 9.5 percent improvement over December 2010.

By industry, major categories were all up except General Merchandise Stores, which were off 1.8 percent. Among the categories showing positive numbers were construction, wholesalers, auto and parts dealers, clothing stores, food and beverage stores, eating and drinking places and furniture stores.

As of the end of December, sales tax collections were running 3.1 percent ahead of the projections used to build the state budget, a difference of $12.8 million.

According to the report released Monday, the Modified Business Tax finished the calendar year pretty much spot on the Economic Forum projections. The total of more than $355 million in collections is about a half percent or $831,000 above forecast.

Excise tax collections including tobacco, liquor, live entertainment and the insurance premium tax were all just slightly ahead of projections as of December. Even the Real Property Transfer Tax, seriously damaged by the collapsed housing market during the past three years, was above projections - by 1.46 percent.

County Taxable Sales Change from 12/10

Statewide $4.21 billion 3.8%

Carson City $70.1 million 5.5%

Churchill $43.59 million 69.5%

Douglas $58 million 8.8%

Lyon $43 million 43.7%

Storey $6.1 million -27.2%

Washoe $579.3 million 6.1%

Clark County $2.99 billion 9.5%