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President's Commission on USPS Says Trips to Post Office are “Inconvenient” -"While the Commission endorses the basic features of universal service, it seeks to take everyday postal services out of the post office and plunk them inside grocery stores, drug stores, banks, at ATMs and other locations." (Association of United States Postal Lessors)

League Position Paper

Facts: Some believe that operating rural post offices is very expensive and that closing many of them would save a considerable amount of money. As brought out by the President’s Commission on the Postal Service, this is not true. The cost of operating the smallest 10,000 post offices is less than one percent of the Postal Service’s annual budget.

Why is this an issue now? The recent Presidential Commission specifically did not recommend widespread closing of rural post offices, even if they lost money, as long as the rural post office was necessary to maintain Universal Service.

It did recommend, however, the realignment of processing facilities, which would result in processing plant closures. This processing plant recommendation is being confused with the rural post office issue, and has inadvertently put the issue of closing rural post office squarely on the table in the postal reform debate.

Analysis and Argument: There are two points to make in arguing for protecting rural post offices. First, it is critical to fully explain their importance, and that their importance goes far beyond the role they play in the postal system. Second, it is critical to realize that this vital rural resource costs very little.

• Rural post offices are the backbone of rural America and are an integral part of the social, political, and economic fabric of small towns. They are the glue that holds the nation’s rural communities together. If a rural post office disappears, the town often disappears.

Rural customers are not second-class citizens; they deserve access to the postal services that citizens in big cities enjoy. Rural America contains 80 percent of the nation’s land and is home to somewhere around 56 million people. Rural Americans are 26 percent of the population and make up 34 percent of Americans with incomes below the official poverty line.

Small towns also have the highest concentrations of elderly people. Rural post offices often serve as a gathering point for retirees and act as a source of information that goes far beyond postal issues. Rural post offices fulfill a need for this segment of the population that goes far beyond postal services.

An attack on rural post offices is an attack on rural America, as most rural citizens and all rural Congressmen know well.

• Because the smallest 10,000 post offices cost the Postal Service less than one percent of its budget to operate, this is not a money issue. Put another way, even if every rural post office in every single rural community in America were closed, the Postal Service would save very little. Moreover, if post office boxes were not available in rural areas, the cost of paying a rural carrier to deliver the mail to their residences would be much more expensive.

By balancing the absolutely vital role that rural post offices play in America against the minuscule amount of money it costs the Postal Service to operate them, one should come to the conclusion that the rural post office network be maintained and that the Postal Service should not close rural post offices.

We believe that the network of rural post offices we have across this country is a valuable asset, and that we should be looking at ways rural post offices can assist government at all levels, local, state and federal.

One example could be helping Homeland Security. Should the nation experience a disaster, rural post offices would be a natural place to disseminate information and perhaps even have supplies propositioned. By partnering with government and private industry, we can more fully utilize our network of post offices.

source: National League of Postmasters (http://www.postmasters.org/)

President Steve LeNoir and Legislative Counsel Bob Brinkman meet with Presidential Advisor on Postal Issues

On Wed., December 3, LEAGUE President Steve LeNoir and Legislative Counsel Bob Brinkman met with Marlene M. Colucci, Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, and Jess Sharp, Associate Director of the Domestic Policy Council.

Our purpose was to sit down with the top postal advisors to the White House and share with them the LEAGUE's view of the Postal Service and postal reform. Both individuals were attuned to postal issues and wanted to gain additional knowledge to advise the President. We noticed a copy of the USPS 2002 Transformation Plan on the desk.

At the top of our agenda were the rural post office issues. We made sure that they understood that the cost of operating the 10,000 smallest post offices (out of 27,000) is less than 1 percent of the Postal Service's budget (actually 7/10ths of 1 percent.) We also reviewed-at some length-the role the post office plays in rural America and raised the possibility of post offices providing other government functions.

We also stressed that whatever might happen in postal reform, the most important point is to strike the right balance between the Postal Service, the employee groups, the mailers, and the American public. Finally, we stressed the critical implication of the CSRS Military Pension issue. No other government agency is responsible for these costs, and it carries a $27 billion price tag for the Postal Service. We strongly feel that this cost should be borne by the taxpayers and not the postal ratepayers. We raised the issue of the escrow account that was created by the CSRS legislation.

Both the military pension and CSRS escrow issues are by-products of the CSRS legislation that was passed earlier this year. Legislation will be needed to fix both issues. Position papers on both of these issues will be posted to our Web site by December 20th.

Ms. Colucci indicated that the White House would be making a statement on postal reform early next year before turning the issue over to Congress. It was a productive meeting and we agreed to keep in contact as postal reform develops.

Steve LeNoir, President

LEAGUE Discusses Postal Issues with White House Staffers

On Wed., December 3, LEAGUE President Steve LeNoir and Legislative Counsel Bob Brinkmann met with Marlene M. Colucci, Special Assistant to President Bush for Domestic Policy, and Jess Sharp, Associate Director of the Domestic Policy Council. They are the top staffers in the White House for postal matters, and have been assigned the task of developing the White House’s position on postal reform.

At the top of our agenda were the rural post office issues. We made sure that they understood that the cost of operating the 10,000 smallest post offices is less than 1 percent of the Postal Service’s budget. We also reviewed-at some length-the role the post office plays in rural America and raised the possibility of post offices providing other government functions.

We further stressed that whatever might happen in postal reform, the most important point is to strike the right balance between the Postal Service, the employee groups, the mailers, and the American public. Finally, we stressed the critical implication of the CSRS Military Pension issue. No other government agency is responsible for these costs, and it carries a $27 billion price tag for the Postal Service. We strongly feel that this cost should be borne by the taxpayers and not the postal ratepayers. We also raised the issue of the escrow account that was created by the CSRS legislation.

Both the military pension and CSRS escrow issues are by-products of the CSRS legislation that was passed earlier this year. Legislation will be needed to fix both issues. Position papers on both of these issues will be posted to our Web site by December 20th.

Ms. Colucci indicated that the White House would be making a statement on postal reform early next year as Congress gears up to deal with the issue. It was a productive meeting and we agreed to keep in contact as postal reform develops.

source: National League of Postmasters (http://www.postmasters.org/)

LEAGUE Meets with AUSPL President at Alexandria Headquarters

Gary Poelstra, President of the Association of United States Postal Lessors (AUSPL), met with us at LEAGUE Headquarters on Thursday, October 2. Poelstra’s prime reason for coming to the DC area from the association’s home base in California was to meet with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on Capitol Hill and provide input to her on post office “real estate” as incorrectly defined in the Commission report. AUSPL is the largest association for postal lessors, currently serving more than 2,100 members representing more than 5,000 USPS locations and represents 41 percent of space leased to the USPS. The majority of the post offices are small, and the Commission report suggested “selling off such real estate” while not being aware of the actual facts of lease agreements rather than land ownership by the Postal Service.

Gary spent some time discussing post office facility issues with Mario Principe, the LEAGUE’s Post Office Continuance Consultant. LEAGUE Legislative Counsel Bob Brinkmann also met with Gary to discuss ways to promote legislative issues of mutual interest.

source: National League of Postmasters President Steve Lenoir (10/3/03)

NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                                          CONTACT:   GARY L. POELSTRA
                                                                                                                                                                              800-572-9483 ext.110
                                                                                                                                                                              www.auspl.com

National League Of Postmasters and Association of United States Postal Lessors Join Forces to Fight Closure of Rural Post Offices

COSTA MESA, September 4, 2003— The National League of Postmasters (NLPM) and the Association of United States Postal Lessors (AUSPL) are drawing up plans to stop the wholesale closure of small and unprofitable post offices in towns and communities nationwide without due process.  The joint effort is a result of the recent recommendations for the future of the United States Postal Service made by a nine-member, bipartisan commission established by President Bush last year.

“We understand it’s necessary to streamline operations of USPS, but it’s only fair postal lessors are informed and given reasons why their facility is being closed,” said Gary Poelstra, AUSPL president. AUSPL is the largest association for postal lessors, currently serving more than 2,100 members nationwide. Since 1981, the nonprofit organization has helped individuals and organizations that own post offices better manage their business. As a collective body, members own approximately 30% of space leased to the Postal Service. Members range from “mom and pop” owners of one or two post offices to those owning multiple facilities to others who own 100 or more buildings.

“We don’t believe small post offices should be closed solely as a cost-cutting strategy,” said Poelstra. Steve LeNoir, president of NLPM agrees. In oral and written testimony before the President’s Commission LeNoir said, “Rural and inner city post offices are often perceived as money losers, but this is not a true picture. While the postal revenue is collected where the mailer enters the mail into our system, the cost of delivering the mail is borne by the post office that ultimately delivers the piece. To say that over half of the post offices lose money is not a fair analysis.”

The National League of Postmasters advocates for current and retired postmasters nationwide, from the smallest to the largest facilities. Sixty-two percent of the approximately 27,000 postmasters are non-exempt, meaning they supervise less than two employees. The 62% comprises small post offices located in rural America.

 AUSPL, NLPM and NLPM’s legislative counsel are drawing up plans for the most effective ways to fight the closure of rural post offices. The Commission’s report, delivered on July 31, 2003 to the President and Congress, recommended lifting the restrictions on closing “money-losing” rural post offices. The Commission sees benefits in providing mail services via kiosks in shopping malls, banks and grocery stores. We maintain that a kiosk cannot take the place of personalized service that citizens receive at a post office. Seniors and other citizens rely on their local post offices to pay bills, conduct business and socialize. Some facilities serve as bus stops, ensuring a safe drop off for children.

 AUSPL is encouraging its members and other postal lessors to write their Representatives and Senators, urging them to oppose any attempts to weaken the Postal Service. Sample letters and more information is available online at www.auspl.com.

 The National League of Postmasters is monitoring the situation closely and will likely again testify before the Commission. In previous testimony, NLPM President Steve LeNoir suggested expanding non-postal services at post offices, including banking, savings bond sales and redemption, voter registration, ATM machines, fax or copy services, money transfers, notary public services and even computer services. Additionally, he suggested using post offices to assist with the administration of Medicare and federal prescription drug programs. Many seniors receive medications through the mail when there are no pharmacies nearby.

 “We believe post offices must be measured by the service they provide, and not be judged solely on financial considerations,” said LeNoir.

 AUSPL and NLPM believe rural customers deserve access to postal services just like customers in metropolitan areas. Over 55 million people live in rural America and having a post office is important to them. The cost of universal service is a small portion of the USPS $70 billion budget. The cost of the 10,000 smallest post offices is less than one percent of the total budget.

“The Commission will hold more hearings this fall. If and when its recommendations go into effect, it will mean the Postal Service can move out of the lessors’ buildings with no accountability to the customers it serves,” said AUSPL President Gary Poelstra. “We don’t think it’s fair to close a facility, disrupt the lives of seniors and other citizens without due process; our country was founded on such principles.”

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source: AUSPL