Youngstown postal center to close in March

Youngstown postal center to close in March

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown’s distribution and processing postal center — home to about 500 employees — is slated to close by March, a local postal union leader said.

The U.S. Postal Service, which has outlined a plan to cut about half of its 500 nationwide distribution centers and delay mail delivery by at least one day, is expected to make a formal announcement this afternoon.

Its current plan calls for two Ohio distribution centers — Columbus and Cleveland — to remain open.

The postal service has struggled with declining mail delivery, though it still delivers more than 167 billion pieces of mail annually.

That is a 20 percent decline from 2006, when USPS delivered a record 213 billion pieces.

The most substantial reason, however, is the government-mandated retiree health-care benefit prefunding program.

Every year the postal service starts with a deficit of $5.5 billion, as stipulated in the 2006 Postal Accountability Enhancement Act, which requires USPS to fund retiree health-care benefits 75 years in advance.

That is in addition to $7 billion in expenditures for current benefits.

This year’s $5.5 billion payment, originally due this fall, faces a Dec. 18 deadline.