ABBOT – A capital-spending freeze has not affected U.S. postal projects in Abbot and Hanover, although they initially were listed as projects on hold, according to a U.S. Postal Service official.

The Postal Service, which is facing a multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, took unprecedented action last month on cost-control options that included an immediate freeze on about 800 facility projects nationwide. Of those facilities affected by the freeze, 11 were in Maine.

Because the agency’s costs are increasing at a rate exceeding mail volume and revenue growth, the Postal Service is facing a shortfall of $2 billion to $3 billion this fiscal year, Bob Groff, public affairs officer for the U.S. Postal Service, District of Maine, said Wednesday.

Contributing to the shortfall is the softening economy, the fact first-class mail is not growing at the rate it used to grow because more people are using Internet e-mail services, and because delivery points continue to expand along with the population, Groff said. He noted that 1.8 million new delivery points must be added this year across the nation.

Groff said the Postal Service was studying cost savings that might be associated with reducing delivery service to five days a week by eliminating Saturday delivery. This study will take about 90 days, he said.

Additionally, the Postal Service is reducing labor costs, increasing its productivity, reducing administration and transportation costs, and cutting capital spending by more than $1 billion.

Those capital projects affected by the freeze in Maine are the Auburn Finance Station, the Portland Air Transfer Facility and the construction or renovation of post offices in Bar Harbor, Biddeford, Chebeague Island, Cumberland Center, Eastport, Milford, Troy, Turner and Winthrop.

The announcement of the freeze was not received well by some postal officials.

In Bar Harbor, Warren Young, a full-time clerk, said the present location on Cottage Street, a building constructed between 1904 and 1908, is cramped. He said the post office is expanding like any other business and needs more space.

Projects planned in Abbot and Hanover are in the review stages, Groff said. Postal officials are eyeing the renovation of the former Abbot Elementary School as a new location for the post office or new construction on property next to the town office. They said the move is needed because of safety and traffic concerns.

In Hanover, construction of a new facility is planned on private property near the current facility.

Groff said projects now under construction or that will be this spring include Lincolnville, Gray, Skowhegan, Topsfield, Eagle Lake, Harrison, Princeton, Sebago and Cornish.