When it comes to street-cleaning costs, San Francisco is in a league of its own.

The 47-square-mile city spends more than four times as much as Chicago does to keep streets clean, according to a recent budget and legislative analyst’s report. And Chicago, at 227 square miles, is almost five times larger than San Francisco.

San Francisco also spends three times as much as Los Angeles — whose population is more than four times greater. It spends five times as much as San Jose and 10 times as much as San Diego.

Do the math, and San Francisco’s fiscal 2016-17 spending total of $35 million worked out to more than $40 per resident to clean its streets.

So for all that money, San Francisco’s streets must sparkle brighter than those in other cities, right?

OK, now that you’ve stopped laughing, we’ll continue.

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San Francisco is spending more because it provides more services, answers more public calls for help, and cleans homeless encampments more often, said report co-author Fred Brousseau.

“San Francisco provides these services multiple times per week — more than any of the surveyed cities,” Brousseau said. Those cities included Chicago, Seattle, Minneapolis, Baltimore and Portland, Ore., along with six California cities — Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and Long Beach.

San Francisco also has more workers on the job, with a cleanup staff of 302. The average in the other cities is 40.

The city received 77,091 street cleanup requests in 2016-17, more than twice as many as any of the other cities. That could be because San Francisco has an active citizenry, or it could be because the streets get dirty faster than in other cities.

One caveat: The report did not compare the efficiency of city workers. “So we can’t comment on whether that is also a factor driving San Francisco’s higher costs,” Brousseau said.

Clearly, throwing money at the problem isn’t fixing it. No sooner are problem streets and alleys cleaned of human waste and drug needles than they’re promptly turned back into outdoor restrooms and shooting galleries.

Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who ordered the analysis, said the high costs should not come as a shock.

“We can’t solve this problem by cleaning up after the fact,” Stefani said. “We need to get to the root causes and do a better job of helping people who are living on the streets and in our shelters.”

And by the way, San Francisco’s cleanup costs in the report were out of date — they’re a lot higher now. The $35 million in 2016-17 spending jumped to $53.7 million this year. Next year, it will be nearly $60 million.

“We have our crews on the ground 24/7 and have ramped up operations,” said Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru. “We’ve expanded our partnerships with nonprofits to sweep and steam clean, and to staff Pit Stop public bathrooms.”

He added, “We’re also asking the people who live and work here to pitch in and help.”

Considering the price tag, taxpayers may feel they already are.

Season of giving: For all the feel-good attention lavished on the Raiders for their $250,000 contribution to help save Oakland school sports, the move was a dud for other pro teams in the Bay Area.

When the Oakland school district announced it was going to chop in half its high school sports, the 49ers were the first team ready to step forward with a $50,000 check. Not wanting to big-foot it on someone else’s home turf, they first reached out to the Raiders and A’s to talk to them about getting all the area’s teams involved.

In short order, we’re told, the Raiders, A’s, Warriors and San Jose Earthquakes all agreed to join the cause. Everyone was waiting for the Giants to confirm their participation before going public with a total donation of $250,000.

In the meantime, an announcement was set for Aug. 29. The night before, however, the Raiders jumped the gun and said they were cutting a $250,000 check — without mentioning the other teams’ involvement.

The other teams, caught off guard, let the matter drop.

A’s spokeswoman Catherine Aker said the team has already contributed $300,000 toward various youth sports programs this year, but that “no one has reached out to us” from Oakland since the Raiders announced their contribution.

The Raiders did not return calls for comment, and representatives of some of the other teams involved didn’t want to be quoted.

Meanwhile, Oakland schools spokesman John Sasaki tells us the district is still about $200,000 short of what it needs to close the sports spending gap for this year.

“The bottom line is, we ... still need support,” Sasaki said.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415- 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross