Mohave Daily News: Business

CARSON CITY, Nev. - A state report released Wednesday had more bad economic news - Nevada merchants sold $3.9 billion in goods during August for a 5.7 percent decline compared with the same month a year earlier.

The Nevada Department of Taxation report shows that sales taxes that go to the state, local governments and schools totaled $296.3 million based on the August sales, down 4.7 percent. The state's share was $79 million - and that's $20 million less than what the Economic Forum had projected last spring.

The sales report follows an Oct. 10 report that casino winnings were down 4.4 percent in August, and the percentage fees to the state based on the win was down 13.2 percent. That left the state about $15 million below its earlier projections for those revenues.

The sales and gambling taxes are the biggest source of revenue for the state, and their declines along with other economic factors has prompted Gov. Jim Gibbons to tell various state agencies to prepare plans for possible 5 percent budget cuts. Those plans are due Monday.

Gibbons said sales taxes would need a growth rate of over 8 percent for the rest of the year to make up for the shortfall in anticipated revenues from Nevada merchants ‘‘and current trends to not support that scenario.''

‘‘It is obvious, looking at these numbers, that we must plan for a slowdown in government spending,'' he added.

A breakdown of the sales for August showed that 14 Nevada counties had decreases, while only three outlying counties had increases.

Those with decreases included Clark and Washoe, the state's largest counties, which had all but about 12 percent of the $3.9 billion in sales during the month.

Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, accounted for $2.86 billion of the August sales, down 5.2 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. Washoe County, which includes Reno, had $596 million in August sales, down 3.6 percent.

The Taxation Department report shows that the single biggest category, restaurant-bar sales, was down about 2 percent at $604.6 million statewide. Such sales are indicators of tourist traffic in this tourist-dependent state.

Automobile and auto parts sales totaled just under $500 million, down about 10 percent in August compared with the same month a year earlier. Building material sales totaled $191.6 million, down about 23 percent.

Food-beverage store sales totaled nearly $143 million, up about 2 percent; and health and personal care sales amounted to about $187 million, down nearly 5 percent.