Post Office Pitch Worries Residents

Saturday mail service will soon be a thing of the past.

The struggling United States Postal Service has unveiled a plan to reduce operating costs that includes reducing mail delivery to five days a week, Monday to Friday, according to news reports.

The change, which would go into effect on Aug. 1, only impacts first-class mail, while packages, mail-order medicines, priority and express mail would still get delivered on Saturdays, according to CBS News.

Post offices would still remain open on Saturdays, reports the Huffington Post.

Although the Postal Service "receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations," as stated on its website, it is governed by Congress, and had been hoping members would pass legislation to help lessen its financial burdens.

"It's unclear at the moment how the Postal Service has the authority to quit delivering letters on Saturdays. Previously, they've said they need Congress to change current law to do so," according to CNN Money.

But according to CBS News, lawyers for the Postal Service think that they have "figured out a way around the law."

Various news reports say the Postal Service needs tens of billions of dollars to be saved. In July 2011, the Postal Service announced the closure of 3,600 post offices across the country in an effort to save money. Currently, USPS operates a branch on Deer Park Avenue in North Babylon and one on Carlls Path in Deer Park.

On Facebook, some Deer Park-North Babylon Patch readers showed some concern about the pitch to stop weekend delivery.

Jamie Incardona Viggiano wrote: I like getting mail on Saturday ... and I feel bad for the employees whose hours and overtime will be cut. Times are tough enough.

Lori Brown Grimaldi responded: "There still will be the same amount of mail. The mail carries will have one less day to deliver it. It will be more work and longer hours for them. We used to get our mail delivered by 11. We have been getting it around 5 on Monday's and after 2 the rest of the week."

And Patricia DiGaudio Tomeo wondered if "the USPS considered if additional man hours and cost will be incurred delivering the Saturday mail on Monday?"

To read more reader responses, visit the Deer Park-North Babylon Patch Facebook page.

David Reich-Hale contributed to this report.