Here’s a late Christmas present from the U.S. Postal Service. Because the quasi-governmental agency finished the fiscal year with a $3.9 billion surplus, we shouldn’t expect an increase in postal rates through 2006.

But the pasture isn’t all green. Mail volume declined in the year ending in September for the second year in a row, dropping more than 600,000 pieces. At the same time as the number of first-class letters is falling, the number of addresses that the postal service must deliver to increased by 1.8 million last year alone.

Even after using much of its surplus to pay down debt – from $11.1 billion to $7.3 billion – the trend of fewer paying customers and more addresses spells long-term trouble.

Maine has more than 400 post offices, many of which are small. As research by Sun Journal staff writer Kathryn Skelton shows, there are places in Maine that have clusters of post offices, in one case seven in a 10-mile radius.

There are other examples. Offices in Farmington and West Farmington are less than a mile apart, and a number of others are separated by just two miles.

The President’s Commission on the Future of the Postal Service has presented its report to Congress. It urges a smaller network with fewer employees and a process to close redundant or unneeded operations.

That puts marginal offices on the chopping block, especially ones that don’t make money and offices that are too closely grouped.

The options facing the Postal Service are pretty clear. As one witness told Sen. Susan Collins during a congressional hearing, the postal system either can be streamlined, rates can be raised, services can be cut or taxpayers can pick up the difference.

Postal jobs are good jobs. The pay and benefits are better than the average job in Maine. Nobody wants to take good jobs away.

And local post offices are important centers for many communities. But when there are seven post offices within 10 miles and numerous examples of postal clusters, it’s quick work to identify inefficiencies. We’re certain that this pattern is repeated countless times around the country.

We all pay higher prices when the system wastes money. Postage prices affect individuals and businesses, adding to the cost of doing business.

Closing a post office is political poison. No politician would favor closing a facility in his or her district if it could be avoided.

There are other options, and they should be explored before any buildings are shuttered. But, it appears, some closures are inevitable.

The task remains to develop a fair system for spreading the pain around and preventing powerful members of Congress from protecting their own post offices while sacrificing others. A commission, similar to the one used to decide which military bases should be closed, could depoliticize the process, especially if Congress is given only an up-or-down vote on the list with no chance for horse-trading and amendments.

The good news of a surplus is tempered by the coming fiscal realities. This year’s Christmas present will show itself again, when the credit card bill – in the shape of higher postage rates, higher taxes or reduced services – comes due down the road.
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