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To close or not to close? 05/15/2012 On Tuesday May 1, 2012, Lakeville resident Etienne Delessert and Community Lawyer Charlene LaVoie of Winsted CT held a public meeting at the Town Hall in Salisbury regarding the possible closing of the Lakeville Post Office. That meeting can be viewed on Public Access Television CATV6 for details. LaVoie said ";The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requires the Postal Service to pre-fund future health benefits for its 572,000 existing and future employees for 75 years and it is required to do this by 2016. The Postal service Inspector General reports that the postal service retirement and health benefits funds are flush $326 billion for future liabilities and significantly exceeds the amount the government and private corporations have on hand for retiree pension and health care."; However other entities are pre-funded in pension and health care benefits for employees. Some examples are as follows Postal Service pension 100% & health care 49%, Federal Government 42% & 0%, U.S. Military 27% & 35%, Fortune 500 corporations 80% and 38%. The postal service proposal was to begin May 15, 2012. It would close 3,800 of the 32,000 post offices. Eighty percent of these proposed closings are rural post offices. The savings amounts to $200 million, three tenths of one percent of the postal service operating budget. Closing the 10,000 smallest post offices - about one third of all post offices - would only save seven tenths of one percent of the total postal service operating budget. LaVoie also spoke about the 21st Century Postal Service Act, Senate Bill 1789, adopted April 25, 2012. This bill prevents the immediate closing of 252 mail-processing centers and 3700 post offices. It prevents eventual closing of 127 mail-processing centers, bars any shutdowns until after November 2012 and protects rural post offices serving fewer than 50,000 people for one year, unless there is no community opposition. It requires the postal service to consider economic impact on the community, internet quality and broadband availability, more than 10 miles to another post office, and impact on small businesses. It also provides new ways for citizens to appeal closing decisions and maintains Saturday delivery for 2 years, provides $11 billion as a refund of overpayments made to the federal retirement fund. Furthermore, it decreases the annual payment into the federal retirement fund from $5.5 billion, spreading the remaining payments to 2052 instead of 2016 and adjusts the payment to eighty percent from one hundred percent of the next 75 years worth of retiree benefits. For further details see Senate bill 1789 for details. Attorney LaVoie is encouraging people to contact Sen. Joe Lieberman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and Rep. Chris Murphy at (203) 759-7541 urging them to release the postal service from the $5 billion annual payment for pensions. Although the U.S. Postal Service official position is they are not closing the Lakeville Post Office I urge people to voice their concerns to their Senators and Congressman and keep themselves informed. Please check out the following for information on this issue: Public Access CATV 6 for the Mr. Delessert and Attorney LaVoie's public meeting, the website http://www.savethepostoffice.com/ for ideas and information. You might also read the 21st Century Postal Service Act, Senate Bill 1789 ABC News reporter Amy Bingham has reported that after ten months of public opposition against the closing plan, the U.S. Postal Service announced Wednesday, May 9, 2012 that the 3,700 post offices targeted in May for closing will remain open. Instead, the USPS plans to reduce the hours of operation at 13,000 rural post offices from a full eight-hour day to between two and six open hours per day, a move that the struggling mail service claims will save about $500 million per year. Most recently Associated Press reporter Hope Yen confirmed the cancellation of pending post office closings in an article released May 9, 2012. It appears that instead, rural post offices will see a reduction on hours and services instead. Despite this apparent change of course, we should all let our legislators, and the Postal service know of our concerns and keep on top of just how severe the hour and service reductions are going to be.
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05/15/2012 Lakeville Post Office Closing? To close or not to close? March 3, 2012 An Unexpected Glimmer of Hope Americans won't really know what they had until they lose it. | |
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Salisbury Republican Town Committee, P.O. Box 221, Salisbury, CT 06068 Paid for and Authorized by the Salisbury Republican Town Committee, Peter L. Becket, Treasurer |