Taxable sales post April gain after 19-month slide

By Cy Ryan

Published Monday, June 28, 2010 | 2:43 p.m.

Updated Monday, June 28, 2010 | 4:22 p.m.

CARSON CITY – After 19 consecutive months of declines, taxable sales posted a 3.5 percent increase in April in Clark County, buoyed by strong furniture and car sales.

The state Department of Taxation also said that statewide taxable sales, which have fallen since August 2008, registered a 2 percent gain in April.

Gov. Jim Gibbons said his administration obligated money from the federal Recovery and Reinvestment Act in April to provide for rebates of up to $200 to those who bought energy-efficient appliances, which could have helped to boost sales.

Compared to January predictions of the Economic Forum, the state’s collection of the sales and use tax for the first 10 months of this fiscal year is 3.1 percent, or $19.3 million, above the forecast.

While taxable sales rose in Clark County, they fell 7.1 percent in Washoe County, which includes Reno.

For the second straight month, furniture sales in Clark County posted a double-digit increase, up 34.9 percent in April. Auto sales rose 12.1 percent in April, the third consecutive month of an increase after 26 consecutive months of decline.

But the bar and restaurant business was off slightly by 0.4 percent in Clark County. The department said a 3 percent hotel-motel room tax imposed in Clark County by the 2009 Legislature yielded $8.9 million, or 2.1 percent above estimates.

The department reported the sale of building material in Clark County fell by 1.7 percent. General merchandise business was off 0.1 percent but the sale of clothes rose 5.2 percent.

Some rural counties were hard hit with declining sales. Taxable sales in Esmeralda County nosedived 82.3 percent; Lander County was off 26 percent and Mineral County fell by 26.4 percent.

Large gains were posted in Storey County, up 65.2 percent; 24.1 percent in Eureka County and 24.9 percent in Humboldt County.

The department said collections from cigarette taxes statewide are 0.2 percent above predictions of the Economic Forum for this fiscal year; liquor tax receipts are 7.9 percent over estimates.