Property taxes are due in counties around Oregon this month and the annual bills can run several thousand dollars. That’s a heavy lift, particularly for people on a fixed income, and taxes can make it tough for people to stay in homes where they’ve lived for decades.

Oregon is one of at least a dozen states that will pay property tax bills so people can stay in their homes. The state gets its money back, plus 6% annual interest, whenever the home is sold.

The property tax deferral program dates to the 1960s and was once very popular. It had more than 13,000 participants each year during parts of the 1980s and paid more than $20 million worth of property tax bills as recently as 2011.

These days, though, the program has just 3,500 participants and is paying out less than $12 million a ye

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