Online shopping helps boost Douglas taxable sales

Online shopping contributed significantly to Douglas County’s bottom line in September, according to figures released by the Nevada Department of Taxation.

Nonstore retailers, which include online sellers, saw a 46-percent jump compared to the same month in 2022, bringing in a record $12.38 million, topping both the county’s usual top sectors.

That helped drive an 8.3 percent bump in taxable sales saw Douglas merchants end the first quarter of fiscal 2023-24 ahead of the previous year.

Merchants took in $326 million between July 1 and Sept. 30, up from $308 million the previous year.

Figures for September were released by the state at the beginning of December. This is the second year since Douglas stopped receiving a guaranteed monthly amount of sales tax based on its population.

The month saw the collection of $111.8 million in taxable sales.

General merchandise stores were actually down 2.5 percent for the month to $10.25 million, and essentially flat for the quarter with a .3 percent decrease.

The three sectors involved with new homes were also down, with building material and garden equipment and supplies down 4.4 percent to $8.19 million and furniture and home furnishings down a point to $1.87 million. Electronics and appliance stores were down 14.3 percent to $2.33 million.

Merchant wholesalers of durable goods led the industrial sectors with $9.3 million up 25.9 percent from last year’s $7.3 million.

By far the largest single percentage increase was in computer and electronic product manufacturing, which was up a whopping 826 percent to $1.95 million. The sector typically hovers around $200,000 a month.

Specialty trade contractors also enjoyed a good month with $3 million in taxable sales, up 57.6 percent. Another giant 810-percent increase was for construction of buildings at $2.57 million.

The county’s tourism sector, including food services and drinking places, was down 2 percent to $12.2 million. Accommodations were down 7.6 percent to $5.29 million. That didn’t stop people from gambling, since amusement, gambling and recreation was up 17.8 percent to $4.3 million.

The county’s gaming numbers for October were down 3.42 percent to $17.54 million at Stateline, which generates most of the county’s gaming revenue. October 2022 saw $18.16 million. The first third of the fiscal year has the Stateline casinos down 6.08 percent. Some of that may be due to the rebranding of the Golden Nugget Casino after the Hardrock was purchased in late August.

East Fork and Carson City townships also experienced a down month in October, down 5.45 percent to $11.33 million.

Douglas saw an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent with 1,056 jobless workers. There were 22,576 workers in the labor force, according to the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.