Commercial and Industrial Property Tax Exemption Program

In 2024, the Salem Town Council adopted the RSA 72:81 Commercial and Industrial Property Tax Exemption Program as a new economic development program for the Town. The intent of the exemption is to provide incentives to businesses to build, rebuild, modernize, or enlarge within Salem. The incentive is applicable to local municipal and school property taxes.

The exemption applies only to the increase in assessed value attributable to construction of new structures, and additions, renovations, or improvements to existing structures. The exemption applies to the percentage of increased assessed value, as follows: 

  • 50% for Year 1
  • 40% for Year 2
  • 30% for Year 3
  • 20% for Year 4
  • 10% for Year 5
  • Subsequent years will be assessed at the full rate

This is approved for commercial/industrial use only as defined in the statute RSA 72:80. For purposes of this exemption, the term “Commercial” and "Industrial” shall be defined as outlined in the Salem Zoning Ordinance Chapter 490 Article V.

Example: Salem Industrial Corporation is a manufacturing company that builds electrical equipment and machinery. The company is growing, and they need more space for warehousing. This leads the company to build a small warehouse to meet the growing demand. Their current assessed value is $500,000 and will increase to $600,000 when the new warehouse is finished. Because they took advantage of the incentive, they were exempt from property taxes on $150,000 of the increased assessment valuation over 5 years.

Here’s the breakdown of their assessment liability over 10 years:

Year 1: $550,000 (vs. $600,000)                      Year 2: $560,000 (vs. $600,000)

Year 3: $570,000 (vs. $600,000)                      Year 4: $580,000 (vs. $600,000)

Year 5: $590,000 (vs. $600,000)                      Year 6: $600,000

Applications are available at the Community Development Office and on the blue sidebar of this page. Please email CommunityDevelopmentDepartment@SalemNH.gov if you have any questions or need guidance throughout the application process.

For more information on the program, please view the following relevant documents: