Committee reviews Haunted Happenings: safety measures, revenue trends and transit data

Chair Prozniewski convened the Salem City Council Committee on Community and Economic Development on May 12 to review the city’s Haunted Happenings season and related operational, safety and financial outcomes.

Jeremy, the city’s event staff lead, opened with an overview of revenues and expenses for October 2024–25 and longer-term trends. He said food-truck and vendor revenue rose in 2025 and that the city saved money on portable toilets after reissuing an RFP. Jeremy said the event produced a net surplus this year (reported staff calculation: $87,016) and that meals-and-room excise revenue for the quarter including October was $1,791,175.

Ashley of Destination Salem presented visitor data showing October visitation roughly level with 2024 despite weather and several ferry cancellations. "We were pretty pleased with that visitorship," she said, noting that Destination Salem is adding spend and origin modules to better capture how long visitors stay and where they come from.

Transportation Director Dave Pucharski reviewed parking and enforcement metrics: about 3,500 October resident permits, roughly 730 visitor permits purchased for October streets, and roughly 8,100 active permits overall. He described heat maps of tows and ticketing that…