(KCPW News) Post offices in rural Utah slated to close due to budget cuts no longer need to worry, at least for now. Wednesday, the U.S. Postal Service announced it will keep 3,700 rural and low-revenue post offices open due to community outcry. Margaret Putnam, a manager at Salt Lake City’s main post office, says this will save approximately 19 Utah locations that were on a list to possibly shut down.
“We’re going to be taking a look at the rural post offices that were on that list initially and others and not closing them but taking a look at maybe reducing their window hours based upon mail volume, deliveries and so forth, see if we can reduce our costs in that way, but still maintaining the post offices there and the community identity,” she explains.
Putnam says the new plan will give communities the option of closing one post office in order to keep another one nearby operating full time. However, she says no decisions will be made without residents’ input.
“The community will be there before we make any changes to ensure that we’re meeting the needs of those rural communities,” she says. “So, we’re going to take a look again and take a look at how we can meet that rural community need.”
The postal service is projecting a $14.1 billion loss by the end of this year.
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