A cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service said Thursday it plans to close 223 of its 461 mail processing centers around the country to save $2.1 billion a year.

The future of Kalispell’s processing facility at the main post office on North Meridian Road remains uncertain.

It is one of six processing centers in the country that is being studied further before decisions are made, the Postal Service said.

In all, 264 processing centers were studied to be closed or consolidated with other operations, a process that started last September.

“We’re doing this as an urgent need,” Postal Service spokesman Pete Nowacki said.

“We have a lot of under-utilized infrastructure and need to fit our network into what’s a new reality as far as the amount of mail out there to be delivered.”

First-class mail volumes have plummeted in recent years, contributing to billions of dollars of Postal Service losses.

In Montana, three processing centers are slated for closure.

The Wolf Point processing facility will be consolidated with one in Great Falls while processing done in Helena and Butte will be moved to Great Falls.

The Postal Service said it has decided not to consolidate a processing facility in Missoula with a larger operation in Spokane.

Missoula is one of just 35 processing facilities studied that will remain where it is.

Like Missoula, the Postal Service studied moving Kalispell’s processing operation to Spokane, a proposal that drew significant public outcry during a Dec. 1 public meeting at the Red Lion Hotel Kalispell.

The Postal Service said it now will study moving Kalispell’s processing operation to Missoula.

“We’re looking at both options for Kalispell,” Nowacki said, adding that he does not know when a final decision will be made.

None of the proposed closures or consolidations would happen before mid-May.

At the request of Congress, the Postal Service agreed to wait until then to begin the closures, expected to result in the loss of 35,000 jobs, mostly through attrition.

The delay is meant to give members of Congress more time to find other ways to stabilize the Postal Service’s ailing finances.

Processing facility closures are tied to a proposed reduction of national service standards that would mean the end of local overnight delivery in much of the country.

The Postal Service is also proposing to close up to 3,700 post offices, end Saturday delivery and raise the price of a first-class stamp by as much as five cents, while asking Congress to amend a 2006 law that requires it to pre-fund 75 years of future retiree health benefits at an annual cost of about $5.5 billion a year.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.