Mannsville Post Office

39 U.S.C. § 101(a)• The United States Postal Service shall be

operated as a basic and fundamental service… to bind the Nation together … It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.

39 U.S.C. § 101(b)

• The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining. No small post office shall be closed solely for operating at a deficit, it being the specific intent of the Congress that effective postal services be insured to residents of both urban and rural communities.

39 U.S.C. § 404(2) The Postal Service, in making a determination whether or not to close ot consolidate a post office—(A)Shall consider—(i)The effect of such closing or consolidation on the community served by such post office;(ii)The effect of such closing or consolidation on employees of the Postal Service employed at such office;(iii)Whether such closing or consolidation is consistent with the policy of the Government, as stated in section 101(b) of this title, that the Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns where post offices are not self-sustaining;(iv)The economic savings to the Postal Service resulting from such closing or consolidation; …

History• Mannsville post office

opened in 1852; 159 years

• Has installed 43 postmasters since its creation

• Never had security issues

21st Century Mannsville• Population: over 1,000• Population has been increasing

steadily due to the growing Hispanic and Amish populations

• A substantial portion of the population is in the low to moderate income level

• Would be a hardship on the people to have to drive to Campbellsville to reach the closest Post Office

• Average annual household income is substantially below that in the rest of the state

Community Businesses IncludeBusiness Entity

Penn Hams/Farm/ Store & Restaurant

Echo Valley Beauty Shop Rolling Acres Cabins

Creative Cuts Beauty Shop Heartland Nutrition Arrowhead Cabinetry

Mannsville Barber Shop T&M Cabinets J&J Welding

Pennington Auto Shop Holt’s Mobile Service Green River Enterprises

Barnes Auto sales Whitaker Tools Crosscut Lawn Crafts

Farmers Gate & Co Bells Beef Farm Homestead Wood Products

Cox Brothers Dairy/Farms Mings Trucking Deepwoods Handicrafts

Mannsville Sash & Door Co. Pinson Farms Troyer Farm Supply & Meat Processing

Holt’s Tractor Service Big cat Pay Lake Shreve Logging

Cornerstone Locks Chad Rooker Remodeling Mannsville Homemakers

Kalvin Mann Logging Blue Diamond Stables Knept Wood Working

Thailand Methodist Missions Fairview General Store Echo Valley Ostrich

Thriving and Growing Amish Community

Homestead Wood Weather Guard Portable Buildings

• 25-30 Amish Families in the community.

• Average family size is usually 7• Amish only visit town once every

2-3 weeks.• When they visit town they must

hire someone to take them to where they want to go.

• Would have to pay considerably more if paying someone to drive to Campbellsville; currently can easily and frequently visit Mannsville P.O. at no cost to them

• They do not use computers at all. Therefore, the only way they find out about or keep in touch with extended family members is by mailing and receiving letters.

• Have almost 10 businesses in the Mannsville area

Rolling Acres Cabins

Arrowhead Cabinetry Green River Enterprises

Other Local BusinessesBarns Auto Sales Echo Valley Cut & Style

Farmer’s Gate

Other Local Businesses (Cont.)

Cox Scrap Metal

Penns’ Store and Restaurant

Big Cat Pay Lake

Mannsville Christian Church

Mannsville Separate Baptist Church

Taylor Co. Fence Company

Current Mannsville Post Office Statistics

• Serves over 1,000 people • Rents out 121 P.O. boxes• Lost a major mailer/client in 2007 resulting in losses

in 2008, however, it shows a trend of increasing revenue; from 2009-2010 the revenue went from $24,194 to $25,165.

• Average Annual Income- $28,713 (avg. over last 4 years)

• Provides 24-hour access to the lobby; never had security problem

Common Post Office Uses

• Hayden’s Construction gets money orders every week

• Penn’s Hams ship products domestically and internationally through the holiday season

• The Post Master frequently helps the Hispanic population receive money orders because many do not have bank accounts

U.S. Post Office Statistics • 92% of post offices are not profitable• In 2006, President Bush signed an act requiring the Postal Service to

set aside $5.5 billion dollars a year for retiree health benefits. Had this NOT been implemented the U.S.P.S. would have earned a surplus of over $600 million during last 4 year. (Fox 19 news report, 9/28/11).

• There are estimates that the U.S.P.S. has overfunded the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System by $75 billion dollars. The Post Office Regulatory Commission has independently estimated the overfunding of CSRS at over $50 billion or more.

• H.R. 1351 has been introduced to Congress to remedy these issues and had 193 co-sponsors, members of both parties.

• The Postal Service needs to stop making it possible for their competitors to capture their business.

Expenditures Per Month

• Building Maintenance: $0• Transportation: $-65,972 (actually saving money)• Utilities- $172.16/month • Crafts & Labor- $5,814.90/month*• Contracts- $24.64/month*• Rent- $271.94/month*• Miscellaneous- $11.39/month*

* Amounts subject to decrease- see subsequent slides

Means of Saving both Money and the Post Office

• Crafts & Labor- $5,814.90/month– This amount includes paying a Postmaster who will be

transferred to another location this expense will not be saved by the U.S. Postal Service.

– Additionally, the Post Master in Mannsville makes approximately $51,000 annually. The Postal Service is including ALL benefits in their calculations to inflate the “savings” they hope to achieve; 51,000/annually does not add up to $697,789 in ten years.– A simple solution would be allowing single postmaster to oversee

multiple branches in close proximity to one another; visiting each throughout the course of a week. When not stationed at a particular branch, help can be hired from the community at $10/hour.

Means of Saving both Money and the Post Office (cont.)

• Contracts- $24.64/month• Rent- $271.94/month

These are not substantial savings to the Post Office even over a 10 year span.

What if one doesn’t catch the carrier?

• Carriers do not visit locations at the same time each day therefore it is likely citizens will have to resort to another option…. – The Amish will have to travel 10 miles to Campbellsville to ship large, heavy

packages- this places a hardship on their business.– Penn’s Hams will not be able to immediately get their products in the mail

making them as fresh as possible; during the Christmas season hams are shipped overseas to soldiers and families abroad, Penns would like to get their products to these people as quickly and efficiently as possible.

– Thailand Methodist Mission will have to change P.O. box and risk having checks placed in an unsafe location. Additionally, they will have added business expenses in having to update their literature to have the correct address.

– If a money order is needed by that afternoon, an added expense of driving to Campbellsville will be added.

– The elderly will have to go to Campbellsville to a larger Post Office, find parking, and attempt to navigate an unfamiliar post office alone.

– Individuals can place their mail in a community box and hope that it won’t be vandalized

Echo Valley Ostrich:•Elegant, novelty decorated eggs•Delicate•Commissioned or as gifts•Shipped all over the country •Would be easily broken, fractured, or scratched if had to be left at a village post office

The means of donating to this organization is by mailing funds to a P.O. box in Mannsville.

Has collected approximately $121,000 through the P.O. box in Mannsville.

If the post office closes the treasurer of Thailand Methodist Mission will have to drive to Campbellsville to pick up the donations because leaving checks in a box on the side of a road opens the organization up to theft.

Additionally, they would have to expend resources on updating literature and their webpage (to have an accurate address) instead of using it toward the goals of their mission.

http://thailandmethodist.org/index.html

If the Post Office closes…

• Citizens will have to…– Drive 10 miles to mail package– Drive 10 miles to pick up an insured package– Call an 800 number for a ZIP code– Find out who the carrier is and hope to see them

to receive a change of address form, purchase stamps, get change, etc.

Effect of closing Mannsville Post Office

• The Postal Service will not be functioning at its maximum efficiency level and promptness for services to a rural area (“maximum degree of effective and regular postal services to rural areas” 39 U.S.C. § 101). If anything, this closure will cause the postal service to operate at a minimal efficiency level.

• It is 10 miles from the Mannsville Post Office to the next closest Post Office

• Mannsville Post Office offers the traditional 36 services of a standard post office. A village post office only offers 3 of those services.

• Closing this branch will provide minimal (if ANY) economic savings to the Postal Service

Attack on Rural America• “The Postal Service shall provide a maximum degree of effective and

regular postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns…it is the specific intent of the Congress that effective postal services be insured to residents of …rural communities.” 39 USC § 101(b)– The September 2011 issue of Postmasters Gazette included this quote in a

article by a retired Post Master, “Due to current economic conditions, the Postal Service has declared a closing war on rural and small post offices”.

– When referencing the meetings being held in small towns the article says, “Meetings usually end with someone suggesting a village post office as a miracle cure… The village post office model should be a last resort.”

– If the Postal Service is recommending the exact same for each location they are failing to take into account diverse settings, economic factors, proximately to other post offices, and generally anything that makes a place unique from all other locations.

14th Amendment • “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge …nor deny to

any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”.• By primarily targeting small and rural post offices, the Postal Service is

violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

• By closing rural post offices, the Postal Service is not meeting the statutorily and legally required standard of “prompt, reliable, and efficient” or “effective and regular postal service” (39 U.S.C. 101(a), (b)).

• Citizens utilizing rural post offices are not receiving equal protection under the law because their post offices are being targeted for closings. While some postal branches in large cities are being considered for closure, closure will not effect those living there as the closure of a smaller branch would effect its patrons because other services are available in urban areas.

“When the flag is lowered

for the last time in front

of a post office, a

community loses its soul…”

(Postmasters Gazette September 2011)

Conclusion• In a nation-wide economic crises, jobs should not be

eliminated.

• 39 U.S.C.§ 101 specifically states, “No small post office shall be closed solely for operating at a deficit”. Cost is NOT a reason to eliminate the liberties of citizens.

• Congress’s intent with the creation of the Postal Service was to provide “a basic and fundamental service… to the people”. To ensure all areas of the country were included, Congress specifically designated “rural areas, communities, and small towns” in section (b) of 39 U.S.C. § 101.