USPS budget woes affect South Florida

Despite reducing costs by $12 billion in the last four years, the U.S. Postal Service is still on track to lose $10 billion this year. The Sun Sentinel reported that in its efforts to curb those losses and save $3 billion annually, the USPS is weighing closing more than half of its mail processing facilities nationwide including those in Pembroke Pines and Fort Lauderdale.

Those two offices employ a few hundred employees each, and comprise one-third of the facilities in the tri-county area.

If the postal service goes through with the decision, local jobs could be cut — according to CBS4 the agency is second only to Walmart among job providers in the U.S. — and mail would arrive more slowly. Delivery times would increase from a minimum of one day to two days for mail, and magazines could take up to nine days to appear in South Florida mailboxes.

Much to the dismay of local residents, the USPS has already said it will shut down Colee Hammock post office on Los Olas Boulevard. [Sun Sentinel]