LAURELHURST IMAGE: NICK BUDNICK

Each year at this time city workers hang leaflets on doorknockers in tree-lined neighborhoods asking residents to move their cars off the streets on specific days so that crews can come through and sweep up the leaves that have fallen into the public thoroughfares. And, although the instructions specifically tell homeowners not to rake their own yard debris into the streets, each year scores do just that.

Tree-owners are supposed to bag their leaves and tote them to one of several city-sanctioned leaf depots, where they are collected before being hauled to a composting facility in North Portland. Instead, many view the street sweeping notice as an invitation to push, pull or blow their leaves (along with grass clippings, tree stumps and garbage) into the streets, clogging gutters and creating narrow, slippery passageways.

"We have tried for years to encourage people to do the right thing," says Mary Volm, the voice of the city's transportation office. "And there are many that continue to utilize the street as their debris pile."

Volm estimates that illegal leaf dumping quadruples the work for the city's collection crews, which this year will cost taxpayers $628,000. The depots, by contrast, have a tab of just under $44,000.

Since the most heavily wooded neighborhoods tend to be the most affluent, the illicit raking is, as one observer noted, "socialized lawn welfare for the rich."

And it comes at the expense of those who live on treeless avenues in need of year-round attention. "We have a 500-mile backlog of streets that need slurry seal, pavement or maintenance--and we're chasing leaves," says Volm. "It's frustrating."