If small post offices such as those in Bullard, Flint, and Gresham are closed after the possible passing of U.S. Senate Bill 3831, it will be because they offer little to their communities, a spokesman with the United States Postal Service said.

“We are currently losing about $23 million a day,” McKinney Boyd said. “The first thing we will look at is whether (closings) will have a negative impact on the community. If it won’t, then we will close the offi ce.”

That includes examining whether families will be impacted and if USPS employees may be relocated to other offices.

“It will have to be favorable to everyone for us to close it,” Boyd said. “The USPS has to do what it needs to do to cut expenses.”

The agency posted a loss of $8.5 billion in 2010. It operates about 32,000 facilities across the country, and Boyd said that may be too many.

“It has gotten out of hand. Since the economy tanked in 2007, we have lost around 43 billion pieces of mail (circulation), and that is a direct correlation to the revenue. I want to assure our (customers) ... we will continue to provide universal service, and we will do whatever we can to provide mail in a timely fashion.”

Senate Bill 3831 would amend the law to allow closing a post office for strictly financial reasons. Current law allows the USPS to close post offices only for lease expirations, maintenance, or other reasons that don’t include profitability.

Boyd said USPS employees will not lose their jobs if the law is changed.

“No employees have lost their job since Benjamin Franklin invented the Postal Service.

“Not one check and no benefits have been lost. We will make sure all of our employees have a place to work.”

The USPS generates revenue from the sale of postage stamps and from mail service.