The Biggest Taxpayers In Salem

The other night, I heard someone assert that there are three businesses in Salem who are, by far, the largest taxpayers in the town, and that I would probably never guess who they are.

Now that I know who they (supposedly) are, I bet you won't either. I'd have to do a lot of checking on facts and figures before I would say this was fact, but for what it's worth, here they are, in no particular order:

1. The New London Water Authority

2. Salem Farms Campground

3. Witch Meadow Lake Campground*

We have other businesses in town, and ones that are more recognizable, like Salem Country Gardens, but no one really contributes a lot to our tax base in as meaningful a way. It's a problem that we are wrestling with now - how to bring in businesses that won't impact the town and it's more rural character but will help the tax base and increase some services to residents. I just thought this was a pretty surprising concept, and one that most people probably don't realize.

*There's a third campground, near Gardner Lake, called Indianfield Campground, that doesn't appear to have the land base that the other two campgrounds have, therefore I haven't included it.