Orange County Taxable Sales Rose to Near $6 Billion in 2nd Quarter of 1987, Highest Per Capita Statewide

Boosted by strong consumer spending, taxable sales in Orange County rose to nearly $6 billion during the second quarter of 1987, an increase of 13% over the same period last year, according to the state Board of Equalization.

“Orange County has the highest per capita retail sales statewide,” said Randy Rose, a San Diego-based spokesman for the board. “There’s a tremendous amount of retailing that goes on in Orange County, with large shopping centers and brisk auto sales business.”

County residents spent nearly $715 million more in the second three months of 1987 than in the same period in 1986, buying such goods as clothing, gifts, cars and food, according to the board’s statistics released Friday.

That quarterly jump shows “excellent growth,” Rose said. “You nearly doubled the state average in Orange County. That’s significant.”

Statewide, taxable sales rose about 7% to $58 billion in the second quarter from $54 billion in the second quarter of 1986.

Los Angeles, with more than three times the population of Orange County, was the only California county with higher taxable sales. It cashed in with $17 billion spent in the second quarter of 1987. Alpine County had the lowest taxable sales of any of the 58 counties, with just $2.2 million spent in the second three months of 1987.

Anaheim, Orange County’s most populous city, was also its leader in taxable sales. About $722 million was spent within its borders--helped, Rose said, by tourist spending at Disneyland and in hotels and restaurants in the vicinity of the amusement park and nearby Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim Stadium.

Santa Ana came in second, with $571 million in taxable sales. Costa Mesa, where $465 million landed in local cash registers, came in third. South Coast Plaza was one key to Costa Mesa’s position in the top three, Rose said. Tiny Villa Park racked up $4.6 million in taxable sales--the smallest portion of Orange County’s taxable sales dollars.

Of the 6% sales tax charged in Orange County, 1% goes into county government coffers, 0.25% goes to city governments and 4.75% goes to the state, Rose said.

Not surprisingly in California, more money was spent statewide for vehicles, their operation and maintenance than for any other type of retail purchase, according to the board’s statistics. In the second quarter of 1987, $11.3 billion was spent on cars, gasoline, boats, mobile homes, parts and supplies, the board report said.

About $4.6 billion was spent in the state’s department stores in that period, the report said.

About $5 billion was spent eating and drinking out in California.