WASHINGTON - March 2, 2011 - The Republican-controlled House opened the envelope of postal finances on Wednesday and what it pulled out wasn’t pretty.

Unless things change, the post office will run out of money by the end of the fiscal year in October, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told the House Oversight subcommittee on the Postal Service.

Donahoe said that as of September 30 his agency will owe the federal government a payment of $5.5 billion to fund medical costs, in advance, for future retirees, and in November it will need to make a $1.3 billion payment for worker’s compensation.

“The Postal Service will not have the cash available to make both of these payments. We need legislation this year to address that fact,” he said.

If it does come down to crunch time, said.Donahoe, “We will deliver the mail.” Employees will be paid, as will suppliers, he said. “The thing we will not do is pay the federal government.”

Without some important changes to the law, the Post Office “cannot survive as a self-financing entity,” said Donahoe.

While the Post Office has been battered by the Depression and the movement of mail to the Internet, it has also cut costs sharply by reducing its work force by 240,000 people in recent years. Last year, it cut costs by $3 billion and expects to reduce spending by another $2 billion this year, Donahoe said.

But alone among federal agencies, the Post Office is required to pay about $5.5 billion annually into an account to fund future retiree medical benefits.