PRC Report Finds $50 Billion Discrepancy In USPS Payment Of Retirement Benefits

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Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission today submitted to Congress, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the United States Postal Service, an independent actuarial report on the allocation of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefits paid to former Post Office Department employees.

The Postal Service asked for an independent review of current allocations. The Commission report finds that an adjustment of $50-$55 billion in favor of the Postal Service would be equitable.

“The Commission is pleased to provide this expert and timely perspective to assist Congress and OPM as they work to resolve an issue that has far-reaching consequences for the financial health and viability of the Nation’s universal mail system,” said Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway.

By law, OPM, which is responsible for calculating the Postal Service’s CSRS pension liability, must now reconsider its calculation of the Postal Service’s pension assets in light of this report, and submit the results of its reconsideration to the Commission, the Postal Service, and Congress.

The Commission finds that the report, prepared by The Segal Company, provides a persuasive statement of how generally accepted accounting principles should be used to develop the current postal pension assets.

The Commission suggests that Congress may wish to alter the schedule established in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) for potential transfers from the Postal Service Retirement Fund to its Retiree Health Benefit Fund. Currently, such transfers may not take place before September 30, 2015.

The full report, Civil Service Retirement System Cost and Benefit Allocation Principles, is available on the Commission web site, http://prc.gov/.

9 thoughts on “PRC Report Finds $50 Billion Discrepancy In USPS Payment Of Retirement Benefits”

  1. I have worked for the postal service for 23 yrs. I have been a union official 4 over 10 yrs. The USPS has been a very important institution and this financial problem can be solved without the elimination of Saturday delivery. First, it is imperative that we save Saturday delivery for the protection of the universal mail delivery and the monopoly on the first class stamp. Customers will seek other ways of meeting their mailing needs other than the postal service. This fact alone will further erode our financial bottom line.Secondly, If we had the 75 billion that the government owes the postal service , it would allow us to straighten out our financial situation, Third, the postal service has not implemented the layoff clause that would let go 16,000 employees thru this recession.Fourth, we are still wasting money on other department that has nothing to do with delivering mail. And also I don’t think the Postal Service shold have been taken off the federal budget because its about service not profit! Benjamin Franklin would turn over in his grave to see how Americans have treated his baby. The United States Postal Servicea

  2. I read on our local area front page news (Yahoo) 7/1/2010 regarding the excess funds. A spokesman for the Postal Service had stated that if the decision rules in favor of the postal service (returning these funds) cutting Saturday delivery would not be an issue any longer. simply put, if we got our money back, we can keep Saturday delivery. The articles author was interviewing local consumers about their opinion on Saturday cut deliveries. At the end of the article was the quote from the USPS rep. And yes, I agree. Give it all back. Why NOT the 75? In addition, in the postal newsweek magazine we usually receive, several months ago, there was an article that stated this (over payment) has happened on several occasions. It happened before last contract. I was amazed that it never had much publicity than it did when we went to negotiations. This does not appear to be an accidental accounting process but a smoke screen. Sometimes I had wondered if it wasnt intentional for the purpose of “loaning funds elsewhere” After all, President Clinton during his presidency had wanted to borrow off the government funds in TSP for funding elsewhere..was denied, but tried. No different from Bush trying to borrow off Social Security….any monies within government entities appears as possible revenue? And as a plus, at contract negotiations, its a no brainer for the USPS to say revenue has declined (this year its obvious) but in the past, it helped their negotiations. A strategy ANY one could conceive. Its deceptive, but affective. I had also heard the USPS has very fancy accounting procedures. I think the only reason its exposed now is because of all the other corporate deceptive business practices in the spotlight. Better admit now its an error before your accused of corporate scamming!!

  3. MOVE FORWARD, PAY THE DEBT! OFFER A SERIOUS EARLY OUT TO CLERKS AND CARRIERS! GET THESE DEAD BEAT SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS OFF THE PAYROLL ! BE DONE WITH THIS ALREADY!!!1

  4. I’m sorry the word they use was not adequate it was equitable, How the amount we overpaid!

  5. I thought it was 75 Billion. But 50 billion is adequate? What does that mean? I want to pay the adequate amount on my bills instead of what I owe and my independent council hired by myself will determine the correct amount. Also I understand the fight to keep jobs but why at the expense of the company that if folds, we all lose. I don’t think Saturday delivery will be around in the future and to be really honest most people don’t really care. They are shopping and spending time with the family if they are off and like to leave business to the weekdays. Despite all these adjustments that may put us in the black for a while, volume will continue to decline. Let the postal service do the right thing for once and be proactive and eliminate Saturday delivery because if we really start going under the first thing the employees will say is” those stupid bosses, they don’t know what they are doing. They should have eliminated Saturday’s a long time ago”. We can’t have it both ways.

  6. KEEP Saturday delivery and keep all employed. Mail delivery is a SERVICE……to all Americans.

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