August taxable sales up 7.2 percent in Carson City

Driven by Utility and Building materials sales, Carson City’s taxable sales rose 7.2 percent to $79.5 million in August.

That is substantially better than the 2.2 percent gain reported statewide.

The Utilities Category was up more than 67 percent to $540,282. The big gain was in building materials sales, which increased 36.6 percent to more than $8 million for the month.

In contrast, construction industry classifications statewide including building materials were actually down 25 percent.

Total taxable sales reported for August were $4.1 billion.

Like Carson City, Washoe County had a good month, reporting an overall increase of 6.9 percent to $611.4 million.

There, the telecommunications category jumped dramatically from $5.8 million to $14.3 million — 144 percent — and Food Services and Drinking Places saw a 10.5 percent increase to $98.8 million.

Douglas County also had a 6.9 percent gain in August even though its largest tax revenue generator, Food Services and Drinking Places, was essentially flat (down a percent). But Food Manufacturing increased from just $41,558 to more than $5.6 million and auto sales increased 27.5 percent to $3.69 million.

Churchill County also was in the black, but only by 3.2 percent. A 17.9 percent increase in Food Services and Drinking Places was offset by a 14.8 percent decrease in auto sales. Building materials sales kept the county positive with a 27 percent increase to $1.77 million.

Lyon County reported a 3.4 percent increase to $30.8 million in August.

Statewide Building Material sales were up 9.2 percent and Machinery Manufacturing up 43 percent. But most of the positive numbers came from outside Clark County, which saw just a 1.8 percent overall increase.