September taxable sales rise at slower pace

Taxable sales in Nye County continued double-digit increases in September over 2012 figures, but at slower pace than the most recent months.

Nye County recorded $58.5 million in taxable sales in September 2013, a 19.8 percent increase over $48.8 million in September 2012, according to a report published this week by the Nevada Department of Taxation from among 2,227 county sales tax filing locations.

For the fiscal year that began July 1, county taxable sales are up 35.4 percent over the same quarter of 2012.

But the September increase was less than the previous months of 2013. February and April taxable sales were up 139 percent over 2012 figures, while March was 111 percent higher. July taxable sales were up 47.3 percent over 2012 and August figures were 42.1 percent higher.

Specialty trade contractors — which includes the category for renewable energy projects like the SolarReserve Crescent Dunes project near Tonopah — continue to fuel the huge increases in taxable sales. For September, specialty trade contractors reported $18.2 million in taxable sales, a 166 percent increase over $6.8 million in September 2012, but smaller increases than in recent months.

Among other large economic categories, petroleum and coal products manufacturing had a 514 percent increase in taxable sales, from $196,539 to $1.2 million. Taxable sales for chemical manufacturing went up 14.5 percent from $2.9 million to $3.3 million. Merchant wholesalers of durable goods, a category tied to the mining industry, saw a 7.8 percent increase in taxable sales from $3.36 million to $3.63 million.

Motor vehicle and parts dealers had a 6.2 percent in taxable sales during September, increasing from $5.05 million to $5.37 million. Sales of building material and garden equipment rose 11.5 percent from $2 million to $2.23 million. Food and beverage stores reported a 27.1 percent increase in taxable sales, increasing from $1.7 million to $2.15 million.

Other economic categories registered decreases.

Taxable sales for machinery manufacturing dropped 11 percent, from $2.06 million to $1.83 million. General merchandise stores had a slight decrease of 1.4 percent, from $3.73 million to $3.68 million. Taxable sales for administrative and support services fell 49.8 percent from $3.1 million to $1.5 million. Food services and drinking places had a drop of 16.9 percent in taxable sales, from $3.96 million to $3.3 million.

Due to tax abatements for renewable energy projects, sales tax collections in Nye County haven’t matched the percentage increases in taxable sales. For September, Nye County collected $885,197 in sales taxes, a drop from $942,240 in September 2012. For the first three months of fiscal year 2013-14, Nye County collected $2.02 million in sales taxes, a drop from $2.66 million in the same quarter of 2012-13.