Should the Morris Street Post Office in Morristown and the Convent Station Branch in Morris Township be closed?
You can give your 45 cents at public meetings on Wednesday, March 7, for the Convent Station branch, and on Thursday, March 8, regarding the Morristown station.
Both meetings start at 6:30 pm at the Main Post Office at 150 Ridgedale Ave. in Morristown.
The U.S. Postal Service is considering closing about 3,700 of its 32,000 postal locations nationwide–including as many as 50 in New Jersey–in an effort to put postal operations into the black.
According to the Postal Service, mail volume has declined nationally by 43.1 billion pieces over the last five years, in large measure because of increased use of electronic messaging systems. During that same period, customer visits have decreased by 200 million and retail transactions have dropped by $2 billion.
Without closures, staff reductions, elimination of Saturday mail delivery and a transfer from government health plans to plans managed by the USPS, annual losses could exceed $18 billion by 2015, with total debt hitting $92 billion the following year, the Postal Service contends.
Closing the Convent Station Branch is projected to save almost $1.4 million over 10 years. Shutting the Morris Street Station could save more than $948,000 over that span.
Revenues at the Convent Station Branch fell from $761,146 to $505,769 between fiscal 2007 and 2010. At the Morris Street Station, revenues dropped from $771,376 to $615,590. The Postal Service owns the Morristown facility and leases the Convent Station Branch.
Although it is a federal agency that delivers 40 percent of the world’s mail, the Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for operating expenses. It must sustain itself via the sale of stamps and services.
If you like to crunch numbers, you will find plenty here:
POSTAL SERVICE PROPOSED FIVE-YEAR PLAN
MORRIS STREET STATION FACT SHEET
CONVENT STATION BRANCH FACT SHEET
