Lancaster approves resolution to memorialize William Street postal facility continuan
By a 4-1 vote, the Town Board of the Town of Lancaster approved a resolution to memorialize the US Postmaster General, Congressman Higgens and Congresswoman Hochul requesting that the decision to close the William Street Postal facility be reassessed in light of the negative impact on local governments and business, the loss of jobs and that the postal facility on William Street be permanently kept open.
The resolution stated that:
• The closing of the facility will impact their day to day operations and have a deleterious effect on Town, County, and School tax bills
• The closing of this facility will lay off over 700 employees, some of whom may reside in the Town of Lancaster
• The closing of the William Street Postal Facility will have a negative impact on the economic recovery of Buffalo and Western New York
• There are many other ways to save money in a system as large as the United States Postal Service and that closing this facility in an already economically challenged area is a hardship
The lone dissenting vote came from Supervisor Dino Fudoli.
Declaring that in his twelve years of attending town board meetings, the writer found a ‘no’ vote was a rarity. This was the fifth ‘no’ vote cast by board members in three months of the new administration. The writer then asked Supervisor Fudoli to explain his ‘no’ vote reason.
Fudoli responded that it was consistent with his beliefs that the government is not a job agency. “The postal service has decided to close that facility. We should not subsidize the postal agency. They say that everything is paid for through the stamps they sell. That is no true. These are not job agencies and if they feel the need to shut the William Street facility, it should be shut down; not for the sake of saving federal jobs.”
Resident Tom Kasperczak (?) spoke and declared that the government does not subsidize the postal service. “All they’re revenue does come from postage and stamps. They get nothing from the government, Unfortunately for the post office, they have to provide service to every nook and cranny; places were there may be only 20 people living in a little town. That is what is killing them. They don’t get subsidy.”
Fudoli: “They do get subsidy. Here’s what they get. Let me tell you the truth. Do you see the signs in the post office that say “paid for by stamps and postage.” That is 100% true. However, all the costs that the post office incurs in benefits and such are paid for by (federal) taxpayer dollars. The reality is that if you look at the federal budget in regards post office expenditures, there is funding that goes to cover other expenses. “
“Just to correct the record, the paychecks are not covered by the tax dollar, but the benefits and other outlays are.”
Status of US Postal Service according to Wikipedia and other media reports
The USPS employs over 574,000 workers and operates over 218,000 vehicles. It is the 2nd largest civilian employer in the United States. The USPS is the operator of the largest vehicle fleet in the world. The USPS is legally obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality. The USPS has exclusive access to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail" and personal letterboxes in the United States, but still competes against private package delivery services, such as UPS and Fed Ex.
On December 5, 2011 the USPS announced it will close more than half of its mail processing centers, eliminate 28,000 jobs and end overnight delivery of first-class mail. This will close down 252 of its 461 processing centers. On December 13, 2011 the USPS agreed to delay the closing of 252 mail processing centers as well as 3,700 local post offices until mid-May 2012.
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA) (HR 6407), enacted on December 20, 2006, obligates the USPS to prefund 75-years' worth of future health care benefit payments to retirees within a ten-year time span — a requirement to which no other government organization is subject.
The USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters. Revenue in the 2000s has been dropping sharply due to declining mail volume, prompting the postal service to look to other sources of revenue while cutting costs to reduce its budget deficit. Total mail volume plunged 20 percent from 2006 to 2010.
So, did Supervisor Fudoli misspeak when he claimed the postal service receives subsidy from the federal government? In examining several websites on the matter it is still not clear whether the federal government plays any part in financing the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) created by the federal government in 1920 or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) created by the federal government in 1986 and replaces the CSRS system.
In fact, it is still not clear after talking to several active and retired postal service workers. They did not have a clear understanding whether the federal government has or had contributed into their retirement system. They all declared that the retirement fund had to be pre-funded by $8 billion to be viable for 75 years. They also declared that the government had been using their trust fund inappropriately.
I understand the William Street postal distribution facility is one f the most efficient in the country and deserves to remain open.
Hopefully, those with exprtise onthe matter will comment and clear the air.
