The U.S. Postal Service does not rely on tax dollars for its operation. Its revenues come from sales of products and postage.
So, to an extent, it makes sense to not close small post offices: If you eliminate the services people and businesses are paying for, you eliminate revenue.
But, while the postmaster’s announcement Wednesday was encouraging for rural post office users and sent a message that it’s listening to its customers, much more is needed to prevent the agency from becoming insolvent.
Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced that rural post offices nationwide scheduled for closure last year — including 30 in Maine — will remain open. To cut costs, the self-supporting government agency will reduce retail window hours to match customer use.
And post offices will have the option to co-locate in nearby businesses or merge with another location. The service will also offer a voluntary early retirement incentive. After the two years needed to implement the strategy, the agency says it will save a half billion dollars each year.
It’s good that the postal service is listening to the people and businesses it serves. Research conducted in February showed 54 percent of customers in rural areas would prefer to maintain a local office. An additional 20 percent preferred having the office in a local business; 15 percent supported providing services at a nearby office; and 11 percent prefered expanded rural delivery.
But the announcement should not take the pressure off the U.S. House to act on its postal reform bill. After losing more than $13 billion during the past two years, the postal service is scheduled to max out its statutory credit limit of $15 billion by the end of this year.
Another scary thought: The agency says it’s at risk of not being able to pay all its employees as early as this fall.
The rate of first-class mail purchases has decreased 26 percent since 2006, and revenue has dropped almost 10 percent, from $72.8 billion in 2006 to $65.7 billion in 2011. People across the world rely on the postal service; it delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail.
Two weeks ago, the U.S. Senate approved legislation — authored by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Tom Carper, D-Del.; and Scott Brown, R-Mass. — to reform the service.
The House must now vote on its reform bill, sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., in order for members of both branches to sit down and outline compromises on things such as Saturday delivery, employer retirement contributions and employees’ health insurance premiums.
We’ll also be paying attention to an expected announcement by the postmaster next Thursday — likely regarding the consolidation of 183 processing and distribution plants nationwide. Lawmakers, including Collins, have asked him to extend a facility-closing moratorium set to end May 15.
One of the plants, the Eastern Maine Processing and Distribution Center in Hampden, is slated to have its duties shifted to the Scarborough processing facility, meaning the loss of 170 jobs. We hope the postmaster will reveal a plan similar to part of the Senate bill — that there must be overnight delivery in some areas in order to ensure the Hampden plant remains open and businesses aren’t forced to find a more expensive alternative.
Restructuring the postal service will not be easy, as it must balance services and demand. But it would do well to get creative, possibly by selling more products online or through energy efficiencies. It should be allowed to ship wine and beer as private competitors do. It must also address its largest expense: its work force.
A vote in the House will allow important decisions to be made. It should postpone no longer.
The USPS doesnt rely on tax dollars? So whose billions were borrowed and now owed to the Govt? Oh ya, taxpayers.
were do you think the banks get there money from ??
I dont know wollydevil…you know everything so please enlighten me.
I though that they borrow money from the federal resurve
All member banks of the Federal Reserve in USA can and do borrow money from the federal reserve. The Federal Reserve is the banker of banks to whom the banks go when they need money.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_borrows_money_from_federal_reserve_banks#ixzz1ucNBfJ6I
Boy, I have seen some DUMB editorials over the years, but this one takes the cake. “The U.S. Postal Service does not rely on tax dollars”…then explain how it has been able to survive in spite of losing money year-after-year.
The USPS has been required by Congress since 2006 to
overfund its Civil Service Retirement Fund by over $50 billion dollars and also has overfunded the Federal Employee Retirement System by nearly $7 billion dollars.
That’s a whole lot more than what the USPS has come up short of last few years.
Quote from a USPS press release: “The U.S. Postal Service ended its 2011 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2010 – Sept. 30, 2011) with a net loss of $5.1 billion. The year-end loss would have been approximately $10.6 billion had it not been for passage of legislation that postponed a congressionally mandated payment of $5.5 billion to pre-fund retiree health benefits.”As for the requirement to “overfund” the retirement fund, that requirement is the result of a 2006 audit which showed that the system had been previously underfunded by $80MM.
Ok close all post offices in Maine an the sorting centers too we don’t need the post office . Companies will half to get along as best as they can an people too . Every one can use ups an fedex
It always amuses me how people here will post that a stated fact in an article is wrong, yet make no attempt to source something supporting their claims.
The problem is the Post Office is required to use revenue to support operations, but does not have the authority to set the price or determine level of service. For years, Congress has been setting unfunded, unsustainable mandates. Big surprise…
Congress does it all the time. “I passed legislation to ensure postal retirements were fully funded. See? I fixed it.” People swallow it hook-line-and-sinker and vote for them, without asking, “So where did you find the money? How much will it cost?” We don’t want to ask, and they don’t want to tell. It’s really a brilliant dance.
one more thing they can’t make a profit by law
The mail is a outdated form of communication. We can send a letter to anyone in the3 world via email and they have in almost instantly and can respond just as quick. Many of us pay our bills online so there is another chunk. Shopping well we spend allot on the internet amazingly most of us choose UPS to deliver it as they are faster. Personally I get more spam sorry junk mail then anything else fully 90 percent of the mail I get goes directly into the trash. If you use the mail great but it is a dinosaur in this day and age where even our elderly are chatting via web cam with friends form away and kids and grand kids as well. As far as our youth well the fact is that in another 10 years or so the post office will be gone from many areas. They just are not needed anymore. Funny considering one of the biggest mass mailings every was AOL cd’s bet the po wishes they had not accepted that spam errr a junk mail.
Just so you know, not all of us pay bills on line. Not everyone uses the web to write to family or friends that are away. We actually enjoy writing letters to others and receiving them as well. I guess that’s what I get for being a dinosaur of 62.
I agree there are SOME that still use it. I learned letter writing in school ( yes there was a class on letter writing ) but the pint is how many kids are writing letters on paper. I called the Post office a dinosaur in this day and age not those who still write letters ( just so you know) .
The point being instead of closing a few offices ( in the end this would extend the life of the po ) to save money people do not want them to go understandable they are a part of history. I used to love to run to the po after school to pick up the mail. That is the past.
Notable drains on the Postal Service’s finances incoude a Congressional mandate that it pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years by 2016; also $82 billion in overpayments that the USPS has made to federal pension systems which have yet to be refunded.
That $103.7 billion prefunding mandate is something required of no other government or corporation. Without that drian on its resources, the USPS would be in the black by at least $1.5 billion.
The crisis is a manufactured by conservatives who hope to turn postal services over to their corporate pals and run it as a for-profit corporation.
I’ll bet most of you folks complaining about the post office pay your bills on line. Just a heads up. The most common method of identity theft is putting banking information on line. I won’t put my info on line and I pay my bills with through post office. When a company puts “pay your next bill on line” on the envelope, I write, and highlight, “support the post office” next to it. When I ask if a company who wants you to pay your bill on line if it has a guarantee against identity theft they say the bank will take care of it. Guess what happens when you call the bank. So keep paying your bills on line and keep complaining about the post office but the post office is a non-governmental agency and DOES NOT receive ANY taxpayer money. But the government does force it to use it’s hard earned money in a most ridiculous manner.