Reacting to last month’s failed rate increase request for sanitation services, the Norman City Council will reduce the frequency of yard waste collection this winter from weekly to monthly and canceling the 2011 Spring Cleanup event to balance the Sanitation Fund budget.

“We took detailed information to the voters about the City’s Sanitation Rates,” Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said in a release. “More importantly, when the voters spoke, we listened. The Council is taking citizen input to heart and has begun the work to immediately identify short and long-term solutions. We believe that the voters spoke very clearly about their desire to see us live within our current revenues during these tough economic times and we share their concerns.”

Canceling the Spring Cleanup event is expected to save about $130,000, according to the release.

The rate increase would have funded ongoing operations of the sanitation department, higher landfill tipping fees, wages, benefits, and insurance premiums for its workers. The price of purchasing replacement garbage trucks has also risen up to nearly $300,000, said Ken Komiske, City of Norman Utilities director.

For the winter months of December, January and February, yard waste will be collected once per month rather than the current schedule of once per week. The reduction to once-per-month collections will save thousands of dollars each month in reduced fuel, maintenance and temporary labor, according to a release.

The changes came as a shock to the Council.

“We were anticipating having a rate increase going into effect. Usually in the past customers have voted to raise their own rates,” Komiske said. “Whether it was caught up in the economy, or caught up in the water vote or caught up in something, this rate didn’t go through so we are having to step back and say ‘OK where does that put us financially.’”

Almost 59 percent of voters, or 5,302 residents, voted against the sanitation rate increase, while about 41 percent voted in favor of it, according to the Cleveland County Election Board.

Norman resident Roger Gallagher, member of Citizens for Financial Responsibility and frequent City Council meeting attendee, said it was unfortunate the sanitation rate increase was on the same ballot as the water rate increase.

“We hoped it passed and were disappointed when it didn’t,” Gallagher said. “That’s a health issue and almost a public safety issue. We thought it would.”

The City of Norman is the only city in the state that requires customers to vote on their rates.

“Costs are increasing, price of fuels gone up a lot, price of vehicles has gone up a lot, insurance has gone up a lot, so we have to ask our customers to increase their own rate,” Komiske said.

The three recycling centers in Norman will continue to be open and operational. In addition, the springtime Household Hazardous Waste Event will continue to be held, providing customers the opportunity to dispose of hazardous waste in a safe and environmental manner, according to a release. Other changes will be considered after a recently completed route study has been presented to council, said Anthony Francisco, City of Norman Finance director.

Francisco said once the information is presented, other changes will probably be made.

“The desire is to maintain the basic services and to make reductions or alterations to the services that are considered additional like Spring and Fall Cleanup,” Francisco said.

“If it’s going to take another year or two [to pass a rate increase], as time goes on you run out of money, you have to do more drastic things,” Komiske said.