The Treebate Program provides a one-time credit on your City of Portland sewer/stormwater/water utility bill for planting a tree in your residential yard. Larger trees receive larger credits because they will intercept a greater amount of rain when they are fully grown.

Treebate is an annual program, running from September 1 to April 30, which coincides with the best time to plant a tree in Portland. Trees must be purchased, planted, and applications submitted during this window. Only applications for trees planted during the current planting season are eligible.

Treebate Eligibility Checklist

Please look over the list below before submitting your application to the Treebate Program.

I am a City of Portland sewer/stormwater/water utility customer for the property where the tree was planted.

My tree is planted in the yard of a single home or duplex.

I either own this property or received permission from the owner prior to planting.

I was not required to plant my tree by City code or a City-issued permit.

My tree is not identified as a nuisance tree in the Portland Plant List.

My tree was purchased, planted, and application submitted between September 1, 2019 and April 30, 2020.

My tree is currently at least 4 feet tall, measured from the top of the soil.

My tree will be at least 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide at maturity and has a single stem.

My tree is planted with enough space to reach its full mature size.

Are you purchasing your tree from Friends of Trees? Please read our Frequently Asked Questions before submitting a Treebate.

Treebate Credit Amount

Treebate credits 50% of the purchase price of a tree up to $10 for edible fruit trees, $20 for small trees, $30 for medium trees, and $50 for large trees. Treebate will post as an “adjustment” to your City of Portland sewer/stormwater/water utility bill.

City staff determine the credit amount based on the mature tree size as shown in the following table:

Mature Size Minimum Mature Height Mature Height x Width Large 50 feet ≥ 2,500 ft2 Medium 30 feet > 1,000 ft2, <2,500 ft2 Small 15 feet ≤ 1,000 ft2

What is a Tree?

“Trees” are defined as woody plants that have many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance [Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333- 47494-5]. Trees do not include woody plants such as shrubs, arborescent shrubs, specimens bred or pruned to maintain an artificially reduced canopy such as topiary, espaliered or pollarded specimens, small weeping varieties, or plants used to create hedges or other thick, closely-planted buffers or borders on private property.

Portland Plant List Nuisance Trees

The trees on this list are NOT eligible for Treebate because of the threat they pose to human health, native plant and animal communities, and public and private property. See the Portland Plant List for more detail.

City of Portland Nuisance Trees, from the Portland Plant List Black locust Robinia pseudoacacia Cutleaf birch Betula pendula English hawthorne Crataegus monogyna English holly Ilex aquifolium English laurel Prunus laurocerasus European mountain ash Sorbus aucuparia Golden chain tree Laburnum watereri Horsechestnut Aesculus hippocastanum Norway maple Acer platanoides Princess tree Paulownia tomentosa Siberian elm Ulmus pumila Sweet cherry Prunus avium Sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima White poplar Populus alba

Questions?

Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Administrative Rule

Full text of the Administrative Rule governing the Treebate Program, ENB-4.23, can be found here.