Sales receipts down in South Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County and state for Q2

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - South Lake Tahoe saw tax receipts during the second quarter (Q2), from April through June, were 2.5 percent below the second sales period in 2022. Excluding reporting aberrations, actual sales were down 5.1 percent, according to the City of South Lake Tahoe Director of Finance Olga Tikhomirova.

El Dorado County as a whole was down 4.9 percent for Q2, the state down 2.9 percent, and Sacramento region was down 2.2 percent.

California’s local one cent sales and use tax receipts for sales during the months of April through June were 2.8 percent lower than the same quarter one year ago after adjusting for accounting anomalies. The second quarter of the calendar year was impacted by continued wet weather and a difficult

For South Lake Tahoe, weaker sales by sporting goods and art/gift/novelty retailers hurt general consumer goods and were largely responsible for the overall drop. A change in reporting temporarily impacted cannabis receipts and food-drug results, while a reduction in fuel prices compared to last year pulled service stations lower.

Decreased lumber prices coupled with extended winter weather also appear to have impacted building-construction activity, according to Tikhomirova's quarterly report. Growth by car dealers and rental companies lifting autos-transportation revenue and steady quick-service restaurant gains partially offset the declines.

The City’s two transaction taxes, Measure S and Measure Q were each only down about one percent during Q2. Softer retail sales hurt, however one-time delivery of business-industrial goods into the City and increased vehicles purchased by residents helped.

The top 25 producers of sales tax in South Lake Tahoe (in alphabetical order):

Aisle 1
Azul Latin Kitchen
Base Camp Pizza Co
California Burger
Cannablue
CVS Pharmacy
Diy Home Center
Grocery Outlet
Heavenly Sports
Jim Bagan Toyota
KB Chevron
McDonald’s
McP’s Pub Tahoe
Meek’s Lumber & Hardware
Raley’s
Riva Grill on the Lake
Ross
Safeway
Safeway Fuel
Sports Ltd
Tahoe Wellness
TJ Maxx
Up Shirt Creek
Western Nevada Supply
Whole Foods Market

In California, sales tax performance grew by 2.1 percent for the fiscal year but lags far behind the double-digit growth seen during the pandemic recovery. The biggest gain was a three-percent increase by restaurants and hotels, and the biggest decrease was fuel/service stations with a drop of 4.6 percent compared to last fiscal year.