LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Taxable sales across the state and in Lake County declined in the last quarter of 2009, according to a new California Board of Equalization report released last week.

Taxable sales in California declined 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, when compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

“While taxable sales in California continued a decline, there was improvement over the previous year,” said BOE Chairwoman Betty T. Yee. “It’s hard to find any Californian that hasn’t been touched by the recession – be it pay cuts, unemployment, foreclosures or diminished savings – and we continue to assist taxpayers and small business owners succeed in times of financial stress.”

Taxable sales in California declined for the 10th consecutive quarter; however, the decline is less steep than during the depths of the recent recession.

Fourth quarter 2009 taxable sales totaled $120.4 billion, $7.5 billion less than the fourth quarter of 2008 (a decline of 5.9 percent). However, the decline was not as steep as the previous quarter, when taxable sales dropped 15 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Overall, 51 counties in California showed a decline in year-to-year taxable sales, while seven counties had increases.

The counties in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Southern California fared slightly better than the statewide total, as each region declined by 5.6 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Conversely, the decline in Central Valley counties continued to exceed the statewide total. For instance, taxable sales in San Joaquin Valley counties declined by 8.2 percent, while those in the Sacramento Area declined by 6.1 percent.

In the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, taxable sales dropped 5.6 percent from a year ago, slightly better than the 5.9 percent drop for the state as a whole.

Taxable sales declined in the Bay Area’s major cities in the fourth quarter: taxable sales fell by 6.9 percent in the city of San Francisco, taxable sales declined by 4.9 percent in San Jose, and taxable sales declined by 7.4 percent for the fourth quarter 2009 in Oakland.

Taxable sales in most of the counties in the First Equalization District declined in the fourth quarter of 2009 on a year-over-year basis, including the following counties: Solano (-15.0%), Yolo (-13.5%), San Luis Obispo (-10.1%), Del Norte (-9.4%), Lake (-8.8%), Mendocino (-8.0%), San Francisco County (-6.9), Trinity (-6.7%), San Benito (-6.1%), Napa (-5.2%), Sonoma (-5.9%), Alameda (-5.1%), Santa Clara County (-4.9%), Santa Barbara (-4.7%), San Mateo (-4.6%), Santa Cruz (-4.3%), Contra Costa County (-3.5%), Monterey (-3.3%) and Marin (-2.7%).

Conversely, taxable sales in Colusa County increased 18.2 percent and Humboldt County increased 2.1 percent.

In constant dollar terms, taxable sales decreased by 7.5 percent over the same quarter a year ago. The California Taxable Sales Deflator increased by 1.7 percent for the fourth quarter of 2009. In comparison, the California Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 1.2 percent.

Taxable Sales in California is a quarterly report on retail sales activity in California, as measured by transactions subject to sales and use tax.

It includes data about statewide taxable sales by type of business, as well as data about taxable sales in all California cities and counties from the first quarter of 2000 through the fourth quarter of 2009 and can be viewed on the BOE Web site at www.boe.ca.gov/news/tsalescont.htm.

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