Eligibility & Treebate Program Details
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.
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.
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 |
The examples below are provided to help you determine if a tree is eligible and what the size of the credit would be. This is not the entire list of potentially eligible trees! Hundreds of trees qualify for Treebate. If you have questions about the tree you would like to plant, just ask treebate@portlandoregon.gov.
Large Trees
Trees like these are eligible for half the purchase price up to $50.
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
| Douglas-fir | Pseudotsuga menziesii |
| Oregon white oak | Quercus garryana |
| Giant sequoia | Sequoiadendron giganteum |
| London plane | Platanus x acerifolia |
Medium Trees
Trees like these are eligible for half the purchase price up to $30.
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
| Silverleaf oak | Quercus hypoleucoides |
| Dawn redwood | Metasequoia glyptostroboides |
| Red maple | Acer rubrum |
| Common cultivars of ginkgo, such as 'Autumn Gold' or Magyar | Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold', Ginkgo biloba 'Magyar' |
Small Trees
These trees are eligible for half the purchase price up to $20.
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
| Japanese maple cultivars, ex: Bloodgood Japanese maple | Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' |
| Flowering dogwood cultivars, ex. Stellar Pink dogwood | Cornus x rutgerensis 'Rutgan' |
| Persian ironwood cultivars, ex. Vanessa Persian ironwood | Parrotia persica 'Vanessa' |
| Magnolia cultivars, ex. Black Tulip magnolia | Magnolia x soulangeana 'Jurmag1' |
A note on vine maple, Acer circinatum: Nature doesn't always fit neatly into boxes. Vine maple is a lovely native understory tree or shrub and may be a wonderful fit for a small or shaded yard. Vine maple is eligible for Treebate only if meets the same eligibility requirements as other trees: it must be a variety that reaches at least 15' tall and 10' wide at maturity and it must be a single-stemmed "tree-form" specimen.
Fruit Trees
These trees are eligible for half the purchase price up to $10. Fruit trees are a special category and there is no height x width minimum. Please take the time to learn about proper fruit tree care before planting!
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
| Apple | Malus xdomestica |
| Pear | Pyrus communis |
| Peach | Prunus persica |
| Persimmon | Diospyros kaki |
Sweet cherry, Prunus avium is not eligible for Treebate – it is considered a nuisance tree in Portland. Learn more about nuisance trees from the Portland Plant List or see below.
Plants that do not qualify for Treebate
Any woody plant that is not single-stemmed and/or does not reach a minimum size of 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide is not eligible for Treebate. 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 are not eligible for Treebate.
| Common Name | Botanical Name |
| Arborvitae cultivars, ex. Emerald Green arborvitae | Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd' |
| Rocky Mountain juniper cultivars, ex. Sky Rocket juniper | Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket' |
| Hinoki falsecyprus cultivars, ex. Slender Hinoki falsecyprus | Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Gracillis' |
| Witchhazel cultivars, ex. Ruby Glow witchhazel | Hamamelis x intermedia 'Ruby Glow' |
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.