The state Department of Revenue has set Wareham's tax rate for 2012 and the town is working to get the tax bills postmarked by Dec. 31.

Town Administrator Mark Andrews said the bills should be "going out sometime tomorrow morning [Dec. 30]."

If the bills are not postmarked by the 31st, due dates would be pushed further into the year, thus resulting in a delay in revenue brought into the town.

The tax rate was set at $9.37 per $1,000 valuation of the property, which covers both commercial and residential properties. The tax rate for Wareham Fire District services was set at $1.88 per $1,000 of valuation and at $1.93 per $1,000 of valuation for the Onset Fire District .

At the December 14 Board of Selectmen meeting, Board of Assessors Chair Steve Curry reported that the town was behind schedule in the process of getting the tax rate set. He said the assessors had crammed seven months of work into a five-month period as a result of many factors, including the fact that Elsa Miller, Director of Assessment, was just hired in June. The office had been without a permanent director in place since August, 2010.

"It was a team approach from the beginning to the end and I compliment all the financial staff involved," Andrews said.