I think that Rockport and Camden, for example, have a lot more relatively expensive properties to assess than Rockland -- certainly compared to their per capital needs. The 1.2% rate for Rockport is pretty low for the places that I've looked at in Maine. But if you're a town with "few burdens", few people, and a lot of estate homes, then the property tax rate might be lower, but the per capita taxes from real estate may much higher.

Easy answers aren't simply cut services, reduce public employee costs, or raise taxes -- though that's really the only immediate options in the short term. The "where" to do it in a budget has to be a really rough matter to figure-out.