Postage increase looms ahead: Proposal has price of first-class stamp climbing to 37 cents
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The commission proposed to increase the price of a first-class stamp by 3 cents, from 34 cents to 37 cents. Other proposed increases are 2 cents for postcards, from 21 cents to 23 cents, and Priority Mail, the two- to three-day service for heavier pieces, which will see an increase of 13.5 percent.
For all forms of mail, the overall recommended rate increase equals 7.7 percent.
The Postal Rate Commission’s recommendation for an increase is subject to the approval of the Governors of the U.S. Postal Service. Should the new rates be approved, the increase will most likely take effect by the end of June.
McMinnville Post Office Postmaster Bobby Miller said the proposed rate increase is not meant to increase profits, but only to allow the Postal Service to break even. Recently, this has been a constant battle since the Postal Service does not receive any government funding and is entirely self-sufficient.
“The charge of the Postal Service is just to break even,” said Miller. “When rates are raised, it is just enough to cover expenses.” Miller added FedEx and UPS – the Postal Service’s competitors – have already raised their rates since Sept. 11.
He said after Sept. 11 and the anthrax scare, the volume of mail nationwide dropped at the same time post offices had to implement expensive security measures. “Even now, we’re down 5 percent in revenues from this time last year,” Miller said.
Added security measures, lost revenues and higher operating costs, such as labor, fuel and transportation have combined to make the increase a necessary one.
Miller said Postal Service authorities are aware any increase always runs the risk of losing customers to their competitors and, in recent years, e-mail. But all things considered, he said, “the increase in the price of postage is still well below other increases in products like groceries and housing.”