Tuscan Village pays 7.3% of Salem Property Taxes

SALEM, N.H. — Property tax revenue from Tuscan Village saves the average home owner $675 annually.

The figure was part of a report by town officials presented Monday to address concerns that the 173 acre mixed-used development was not delivering on promised benefits to taxpayers. In 2025, the properties generated nearly $9.9 million in property taxes and funded 7.3% of the town’s total tax levy, according to the presentation.

The project off Route 28 is also only about two-thirds complete, meaning annual property taxes are likely to increase by a few million in the coming years, Town Manager Joe Devine said.

“Tuscan is not finished, I think we are going to see good growth there,” he said.

However, some town councilors said the financial impact had failed to live up to resident’s expectations that property taxes would go down.

“When I travel around the community the Tuscan question comes up all the time,” Councilor D.J. Bettencourt said Monday.

While the promise may have never been articulated during Planning Board meetings, where projects are approved, Bettencourt said some former elected officials had made the claim. He said at the very least there had been a failure to explain that the development would only lower the rate of increase rather than overall taxes. Still, he said the news was positive.

From 2021 to 2025, the assessed value of the Tuscan Village properties grew from about $31 million to more than $463 million.

Devine said the additional tax revenue also offsets any costs to police, fire or Department of Public Works from Tuscan Village.

“We consider it a net positive,” he said.

Around $5.4 million of annual revenue from Tuscan Village goes to the public school district’s budget, whereas the additional students attributed to new housing at the development cost the district roughly $750,000.

The project has also brought in $10 million in impact fees, which have been used to address infrastructure needs.

However, despite the new revenue, taxes continue to go up.

Since 2021, when rates decreased dramatically due to a reevaluation boosting property values, the rate per $1,000 of property has increased by $2.18 to $18.16 in 2025. Town officials said the cause was largely out of their hands, since less than one-third of the revenue from Tuscan Village actually goes to municipal costs.

More than half of the money goes to the school district, which operates independently from the town, with the remainder divided up between the state and county.

“What Tuscan has produced is helpful and beneficial but it has lagged far behind the spending that has taken place in a lot of different areas that this council does not have control over,” Bettencourt said.

The school district’s annual appropriated funding has grown by around $15 million since the 2021-2022 school year to now, according to district documents. The increase is not unique to Salem though, as many districts in the region have seen costs balloon in recent years due to the rising cost of transportation and special education, among other factors.

Inflation also continues to drive budgets on the municipal side.

“Roads equipment salaries, they all cost more,” Devine said.

The largest contributor of property taxes at Tuscan Village is the Hanover apartments at 3 Artisan Drive. The 281-unit apartment building brings in around $1.18 million annually.