New Business Entity Filings are Increasing

New business entity filings in Nevada, as recorded by the Secretary of State Ross Miller's Office, shows positive year-over-year growth starting in December 2010--a much needed improvement from the significant decline from 2007 to late 2010. It is unclear how many jobs will be created from an increase in new business entities; however, it's a positive sign to see the number of new ventures increase, which could contribute to job growth throughout Nevada.

It's interesting to see the shift from corporation filings to L.L.C. (Limited Liability Company) filings over the past few years as people utilize the different tax and corporate structure of L.L.Cs.

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Gasoline Prices: How High Can They Go?

Gasoline prices have been everything but stable during the past few years. Since early 2009, Nevada residents enjoyed gas prices at or below $3/gallon. Because of the unrest in Egypt, Libya, and potentially Saudi Arabia, fear of oil supply disruption pushes market prices higher.


According to the United States Energy Information Administration, the end cost of a gallon of gasoline has increased due to crude oil price spikes, while taxes, distribution & marketing, and refining have remained relatively fixed. Time will only tell if the short-term unrest in the middle east calms or becomes even more escalated. In the long-term, we can expect a steady increase in the price per gallon as the population in the modernized industrial world increases and fuel alternatives remain economically inefficient.


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Nevada Employment--Still in the Trough!

Brookings released their quarterly Mountain Monitor report covering "the six-state Mountain region’s 10 major metropolitan areas that lie within the 100 most populous nationally." According to this report, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ area's employment improved the most since reaching their relative trough. Las Vegas, NV, Boise City, ID, and Albuquerque, NM, have yet to break out of their relative troughs--in other words, employment is still declining. It is uncertain how much further employment will decline before these three areas see employment gains.



The Top 100 Metropolitan areas show a slight improvement from the aggregate trough, supporting the recent Bureau of Labor Statistics positive jobs reports. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over the past five months 671,000 jobs have been created. We expect those cities currently in their respective troughs to gain traction as the national economy continues to improve.

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Negative Home Equity--Where Does NV Sit?

When CoreLogic released their March 8th report, it was no surprise to see residents who hold a mortgage in Nevada on average are significantly underwater; or in other words, their mortgage exceeds the property value. Interestingly, Nevada is the only state where total residential home mortgages exceed total property values--giving some residents an incentive to "walk away" from their mortgages. According to this report, Nevada has a massive 65% of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed in second place by Arizona, with 51% and a national average of 23%.

The national loan-to-value total is 70%, with mortgaged properties having a market value of $12.7 trillion and mortgages totaling $8.9 trillion (click table to enlarge).  The Federal Reserve reports that approximately one-third of all U.S. homes have no mortgage.

State-Local Tax Burdens on NV Residents Decline!

The Tax Foundation, an organization dedicated to educate taxpayers on the tax burden each state's residents bear as a percent of their income, released their newest report in February. It is good to see Nevada has maintained it's competitive advantage compared to the U.S. average. 


One of the attractive attributes that draws people and businesses to Nevada is its low state and local taxes. Since 1977, Nevada has always been one of the top five states which provides the lowest tax burden to its taxpayers. We welcome the news that in 2009 Nevada's state and local tax burden ranking improved to become the 2nd lowest among the fifty states--beaten only by Alaska! (but it is a little colder there!)

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Nevada Census

Nevada's population increased by 57,470 from 2009 to 2010--a surprising gain considering Nevada's high unemployment and sluggish economy. During the last decade, Nevada averaged 3.1% annual population growth as compared to the national average of .95%.

The largest growth during the last ten years took place in Lyon County, which grew from 34,501 people in 2000 to 51,980 people in 2010. Esmeralda County shrank by the largest percent, but by the lowest amount--due to less than 1,000 people living in the entire county.


Within Nevada's population growth, Asian and Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander populations doubled in size during the past ten years. Hispanic and African Americans also increased substantially, while the White population increased by a meager 19%.

The future of Nevada's economy is uncertain, but the national economic recovery will likely spill over into Nevada and buoy up our tourism industry.

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