County taxable sales falls 32 percent

Nye County taxable sales fell 32 percent in December, compared to December 2012 figures, according to a report released last week by the Nevada Department of Taxation.

The 2,368 reporting locations in Nye County had $64.3 million in taxable sales in December, but that’s compared to $94.6 million in December 2012, which was the highest month in collections. By comparison, the $66.5 million in taxable sales in January 2013 was a 107 percent increase over $32 million in taxable sales in January 2012, before the SolarReserve Crescent Dunes project ramped up the figures in late 2012 and most of 2013.

Taxable sales by specialty trade contractors, which includes renewable energy projects, fell 49 percent in December, from $38.2 million in 2012 to $19.46 million in 2013. With the drop in collections by specialty trade contractors, Nye County taxable sales totals went from as much as 139.4 percent over 2012 figures in April, down to only a 3.5 percent increase in October and a 28.9 percent decrease in November.

Nye County finished the 2013 calendar year with $837 million in taxable sales, a 44 percent increase over $584.7 million in 2012. But since the state of Nevada grants sales tax rebates on renewable energy projects, Nye County consolidated tax collections were up less than 1 percent from calendar year 2012 to 2013, from $13.48 million to $13.51 million.

For December 2013, Nye County collected $1.26 million in consolidated tax, down from $1.53 million in December 2012.

Among other major sales categories, taxable sales on mining dropped 75 percent in December from $3.97 million to $975,628, while support activities for mining fell 26.1 percent, from $1.6 million to $1.18 million. Taxable sales for utilities dropped 78.3 percent from $1.12 million to $243,391. Merchant wholesalers of durable goods, a category tied to the mining industry, had a drop of 61.2 percent in taxable sales, from $8.67 million to $3.36 million.

Other areas registered increases. Taxable sales paid by primary metal manufacturing went up 191 percent, from $347,830 to $1.013 million. For chemical manufacturing, taxable sales were up 12.2 percent from $2.7 million to $3.03 million.

At more of a consumer level, taxable sales on building material and garden equipment soared 353 percent, from $471,669 to $2.136 million. Non-store retailers had an increase in taxable sales of 24.4 percent, from $1.45 million to $1.8 million. Food and beverage stores reported a 2.8 percent increase in taxable sales, from $2.28 million to $2.34 million.

But taxable sales paid by the 62 reporting motor vehicle and parts dealers in Nye County fell 12.2 percent, from $5.7 million in December 2012 to $4.9 million in December 2013. General merchandise stores had a 4.5 percent drop in taxable sales, from $5.5 million to $5.23 million. Rental and leasing services reported a 42.3 percent drop in taxable sales from $1.55 million to $893,282. Food services and drinking places reported taxable sales fell 9.6 percent from $3.47 million to $3.14 million.

Statewide, taxable sales rose 1.7 percent in December. Clark County had a 2.5 percent increase, Washoe County a 13.1 percent increase. The largest increases statewide were in building materials and garden equipment, up 53.4 percent; motor vehicle and parts dealers, 11.5 percent; professional, scientific and technical services, up 26.6 percent, clothing and clothing accessory stores, up 4.8 percent and miscellaneous store retailers, up 27.3 percent.

Nye County taxable sales and Consolidated Tax collection

20132013percentage C-tax 2013 C-tax 2012

December$64,302,068$94,643,249-32.1 $1,259,551.40$1,535,417.81

November 50,233,03563,525,909 -28.9 969,890.011,135,518.85

October57,0355,43755,105,068 +3.5 1,116,751.961,082,409.58

September 58,484,95648,815,569 +19.81,129,551.42 1,182,596.63

August61,462,82143,265,576 +42.11,082,432.481,085,910.07

July 58,419,357 39,654,278+47.31,057,292.13 1,035,533.29

June79,414,75843,967,81+80.6 1,305,378.18 1,206,784.00

May75,342,78747,802,679 +57.61,172,105.82 1,194,002.57

April93,610,97539,099,787+139.4 1,117,146.42 1,017,476.28

March87,320,16441,321,547+111.31,252,408.381,185,881.89