Commissioners Ask Fitzpatrick To Address Postal Service Issues

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Bucks County commissioners have unanimously called on Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick to help restore timely and efficient postal service to the county.

In the letter, Commissioners Bob Harvie, Diane Marseglia and Gene DiGirolamo said recent federal policy changes have crippled the agency, causing delayed deliveries, added fees from late-arriving bills and late-arriving mail-in ballots.

The letter reads in part:

The County has received multiple complaints regarding property tax bill arriving weeks after they were mailed. Similarly, property tax payments, which were mailed well in advance of the discount deadline, have been arriving late. This has resulted in some property owners and their financial institutions having to submit additional payments to meet their obligations which were missed through no fault of their own. We are also aware of utility bill payments arriving late, resulting in late fees being charged to property owners, despite them acting in good faith to ensure timely payment.

During the recent Bucks County primary election, Around 1,300 mail-in ballots that were postmarked before or on election day arrived too late to be counted.

"As stewards of our local elections, we find this to be completely acceptable," the commissioners wrote.

Fitzpatrick responded by forwarding the commissioners' letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Fitzpatrick called late-arriving ballots "totally unacceptable" and asked for a point-by-point response from DeJoy by July 30.

You can read the full text of the letter here.

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