Bill could keep seniors on property tax deferral program longer

PORTLAND, Ore. – Some Oregon seniors who are worried they won't be able to afford their property tax bill could get a break if proposed legislation goes into law.

The owners of about 1,700 homes in Oregon were removed from the state's property tax deferral program last year because they had reverse mortgages.

House Bill 4039 would allow those people to stay in the tax deferral program for two more years and maybe stay in their homes.

That's important for residents like Linda Gaskill who has lived in her Gresham home for 38 years.

She says the $1,600 she gets each month from Social Security doesn't leave her enough to cover her annual property tax bill of roughly $1,900.

She borrowed money from family to pay her taxes in November, but she doesn't think she can stay there without the tax deferral program.

Lawmakers were concerned that people with a reverse mortgage, like Gaskill may not have enough equity in their homes for the state to collect all the tax money that's due when the owner goes to sell or passes away.

HB 4039 gives her and others two years to figure out what to do next.

"I know I owe my taxes as well as everybody else does, but it can't be. I don't have it," she said.

David Raphael of the Alliance for Vulnerable Homeowners stressed the tax deferral program is not a free-money program. The state collects property taxes with 6 percent interest when the property is sold.

"This is a $2,000 loan in effect that the state is making to allow people to maintain their independence and ability to live on their own," he said.

HB 4039 passed the House unanimously Thursday and now moves to the state Senate.