[Melvin Clarp]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

Many of the summer camps that had to pay property taxes no longer exist....they got taxed out.

Many of the camps still in operation are affiliated with churchs,, YMCA, YWCA, Boy/Girl Scouts of America, and are not taxed. If they had to pay taxes at the highest and best use, namely shoreline residential, they most likely could not exist.

Camp Nokomis, Camp Lawrence, Sandy Island Camp, Camp Menotomy, Appalachian Mountain Club's Three Mile Island, Timber Island's conservation easement, and Camp Wanakee (Lake Pemigewasset, Meredith), are all property tax exempt.

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Before someone calls me an ogre for wanting to property tax the summer camps, let me say that NO, I went through summer camp and believe that the summer camp experience is a terrific experience. Many of the campers would not experience summer camp were it not for the tax exempts. They do great work and deserve their exempt status. Long live the summer camps!

What New Hampshire really needs is a five percent income tax with the first 25single/50kmarried exempt for earned income, and pensions from dollar#1, & maybe even capital gains, so it can get away from the property tax, except that's another topic and for another thread.

FLL,
I have many fond memories of my experience at Camp Wyanoke in Wolfeboro in the early 70s. I don't know if rising property taxes contributed to its closure in 1975, but certainly for-profit summer camps on the Big Lake are not a sustainble business model. My older son attended Camp Lawrence in 1999 and 2000, and thoroughly enjoyed his time there.

Just a minor clarification to your original message.... AMC Three Mile Island Camp, where I often volunteer, is non-profit, but does pay property tax.