Staff report

BREMERTON – Kitsap County’s taxable retail sales increased to $929 million for the third quarter of 2014 (July through September), up by 7.45 percent over the same period in 2013. Retail trade, a subset of total taxable retail sales in Kitsap, rose 5.73 percent to $481 million.

The figures for the city of Bremerton alone showed taxable retail sales up 4.17 percent to $203 million. Retail trade was up 5.41 percent to $110 million.

State-wide, taxable retail sales increased to $33.25 billion for the third quarter of 2014, up by 7.3 percent. Retail trade rose 5.5 percent to $14.58 billion.

The results come from the Washington State Department of Revenue’s quarterly report of taxable retail sales by industry. The report compares the third quarter of 2014 to 2013, which equalizes any seasonal effects of consumer purchasing habits.

This is the first quarter that sales of marijuana authorized by Initiative 502 are included in taxable retail sales. For more information on recreational marijuana retail sales and business and occupation tax collections, visit: http://dor.wa.gov/Content/AboutUs/StatisticsAndReports/stats_RMJTaxes.aspx

State-wide taxable sales were up in many sectors:

* E-commerce and mail order – 19.67 percent

* Lawn and garden supplies – 16.49 percent

* RV, boat and motorcycle dealers – 14.61 percent

* Construction of buildings – 9.95 percent

Some sectors showed slight declines, including in agriculture, forestry and fishing, which dropped 14 percent from the third quarter of 2013.

Third quarter 2014 results for the most populous counties:

For more detailed reports on taxable retail sales and retail trade for the third quarter, visit Revenue’s Local Retail Sales 2014 page here: http://dor.wa.gov/Content/AboutUs/StatisticsAndReports/stats_lrs2014.aspx.