The clean-up costs for Eleventh Night bonfire sites across the north are revealed in detailed figures obtained by The Irish News.
Clearing the site at Rectory Park in Portadown this year cost ratepayers more than £17,800.
Portadown also had the second most expensive pyre this year, with the Corcrain site costing more than £11,000.
Bonfires in the Belfast council area complete the top five, with £9,000 spent clearing the Tommy Patton Memorial Park site, followed by £8,650 at Walkway and almost £8,300 at Dunmurry.
Since 2013 councils, roads chiefs and the Housing Executive have spent almost £700,000 clearing up bonfire sites, according to the latest figures.
It means bonfires lit on a single Eleventh Night cost taxpayers about £170,000 to clean up.
The costs between 2013 and 2016 were uncovered through freedom of information requests to the Department for Infrastructure, Housing Executive and councils.
However, only five of 11 councils – Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, Belfast, Causeway Coast and Glens, Fermanagh and Omagh, and Newry Mourne and Down – were able to provide a cost breakdown by individual bonfire site.
And some public bodies could not provide details for all of the years requested.
Of the figures released, the Housing Executive spent the most at more than £140,000 followed by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council at almost £130,000.
Belfast City Council spent more than £126,000 and the Department for Infrastructure about £98,000 over the four-year period.
The Housing Executive costs do not include the £90,000 spent repairing houses damaged in a blaze sparked by embers from a bonfire in west Belfast's Shankill area.
Footage posted online of this year's Rectory Park bonfire in Portadown shows a tricolour on top as well as an effigy, thought to be of Robert Lundy.
DUP Portadown councillor Darryn Causby said there were problems with illegal dumping at the site this year that may have contributed to the cost.
"The issue was there were individuals coming and dumping materials that shouldn't have been there in the first place. It wasn't necessarily the bonfire itself," he said.
"When stuff is illegally dumped and looks suspicious the residents and the bonfire builders do let us know. They don't want this stuff."
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council said it takes a "proactive approach to the management of bonfire sites to protect our residents and our area".
"This is reflected in our comprehensive figures showing the true cost of clearing up bonfires, including staff time," a spokeswoman said.
"These figures will be used to engage with the community to improve the management of this issue moving forward.
Addressing the Rectory Park costs, she added: "We proactively inspect and remove material from bonfire sites in advance of them being lit. Material was bulldozed onto the Rectory Park bonfire in Portadown at the last minute, giving us no opportunity to inspect the site in advance.
"As a precautionary measure, we had to engage an outside contractor in this instance to clear the site once it had cooled down."
