Douglas strong out of taxable sales gate

The first month Douglas County had to generate its own revenue from taxable sales was a doozy, according to figures released by the Nevada Department of Taxation.

County merchants raked in $106.5 million in sales, up 19.3 percent from July 2021.

As of July 1, for the first time in decades Douglas is no longer a guaranteed county, receiving revenue based on its population.

Now its revenue will be based on the actual sales taking place in the county.

The total for July was only $30 million off of Carson City’s $136.3 million.

July was a good month for accommodations, food services and drinking places and amusement, gambling and recreation industries, which were all up by double digits, good news for the Stateline casino core.

Food services and drinking places were up 27.6 percent to $14.47 million, while accommodations were up 19.4 percent and amusement, gambling and recreation industries were up 17.3 percent to $4.7 million.

Those figures were bolstered by gaming revenue numbers that saw Stateline casinos bring in $29.9 million during the month of August, up 26.84 percent. In the first two months of the fiscal year, the chief source of Douglas County’s gaming revenue brought in $61.8 million up 10.6 percent last year.

General merchandise stores, which includes the two Walmarts and the Target, were up to $11 million, 2.8 percent from July 2021. Nevada does not charge sales tax for food.

Merchant wholesalers of durable goods saw a 136-percent increase in sales during July to $12.1 million, making it one of the top sectors.

Building material, and garden equipment and supplies was up 14 percent to $7.45 million.

Both specialty trade contractors and building construction did well during July, with the contractors nearly doubling the previous year with $2.2 million and construction coming in at five times higher with $995,306.

Increased inflation may have hit some sectors in July with motor vehicle and parts dealers posting $2.68 million, just short of half last year’s figure.

Furniture and home furnishings came in at 22.8 percent of last year’s $2 million while food and beverage stores were down 22.5 percent to $4 million.

One sector that saw a huge jump over last year was data processing, hosting and related services with $2.8 million up from only $11,667 last year.

Unemployment figures for August indicated 280 more workers joined Douglas County’s workforce since July, bringing it up to 21,775. It still remains down 168 workers from August 2021, according to figures from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

The county had 886 unemployed workers, up 78 from July and up 58 from August 2021, giving the county an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent.

Douglas County reported 49 single-family dwelling building permits were issued during the months of August and September.