It doesn’t match the double-digit days of the middle of the last decade.
But sales of taxable items increased a respectable 8.5 percent last month over the same period a year earlier.
New figures Thursday from the Arizona Department of Revenue show total sales at $3.77 billion. That compares to $3.52 billion for February — and $3.48 billion for March 2010.
Much of the boost is due to a sharp jump in the sales of cars and trucks, where the total amount of money that changed hands in March was nearly $445 million. A year ago sales were just $363 million.
But Marshall Vest, an economist at the University of Arizona, suggested there may be less to that big increase than meets the eye.
Vest specifically cited the 2009 ``cash for clunkers’’ program that provided federal dollars to those willing to trade in their older — and presumably more polluting — vehicles for newer ones. He said that created a ``hole’’ in sales for months after the program ended, as many who were just thinking about getting a vehicle decided to jump in to get the rebate.
``There was some borrowing from future months that hurt the numbers after the program expired,’’ he said. That depressed sales last spring, making the current numbers look so much larger by comparison.
Overall, the new numbers show the state still is a long way from getting the economy back on track.
On one hand, that $3.77 billion figure is the best March since 2008. But it still is far below the $4.3 billion figure recorded in 2007 before the economy went bust — and when vehicle sales alone topped $690 million.
Restaurant and bar sales are up 5.1 percent from the same time last year. This is an indicator of both expendable income as well as tourism.
But the tourism component of that may not be all that great: Income from hotels and motels rose only 2.3 percent year over year.
larry walden posted at 9:45 am on Tue, Jun 12, 2012.
This whole sales tax issue is down right dumb. Arizona has one the highest sales tax rates in the nation. In Mesa with state,county,and city taxes we pay in excess of 9%. Times are tough for the honest tax payer who must put up with brain-dead government leaders who refuse to cut back expenditures. Their justification for high sales tax is that we have a low property tax rate...give me a break. Any homeowner will tell you that their property taxes are not low. And even with property tax valuations in decline, we STILL pay the same or higher property tax as before the housing market crash. If i were a car dealer i would be screaming. Figure it out: a $30,000 purchased automobile @$30,000 cost X 9%tax = $ 2,700 net tax pay out. And for a whooping $2,700, i can afford to fly myself, kids, and grand kids to a sales tax free state say like Oregon...enjoy a great vacation...then drive my new car or van back to Mesa with a happy smile....ALL on the money i would have spent on my Mesa automobile purchase. People wake up! Join your tax payers association and help fight these high sales taxes. Vote people in office say like hones house wives who really know what it means to budget.