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The U.S. Postal Service is recommending a small postage increase, however Congress needs to enact a postal reform legislation this year.
A rate case has been filed by the USPS with the Postal Rate Commission seeking a decision to raise rates and fees 5.4% for almost all categories.
Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce said, “The postal service put off all classification changes and everything else it might have been considering to come up with a rate case that everybody could sign off on.”
Polito warns that if Congress does not pass and President Bush does not sign a postal reform bill this year, we’ll have “the mother of all rate cases in 2006.”
Jerry Cerasale, the Direct Marketing Association’s senior vice president for government affairs, in a statement said, “This is a significant reduction from the double-digit rate increase that previously had been discussed.” “Moreover, considering that we will have gone at least three and a half years since the last rate increase, this filing represents relatively good news for all mailers.
The filing seeks a rate increase solely due to the requirement of Public Law 108—18 that the postal service establish a $3.1 billion escrow fund. The law does not stipulate how the funds are to be used.
For standard mail weighing 3.3 ounces or less, the USPS proposes raising the presorted basic letter rate to 28.2 cents from 26.6 and the presorted basic non-letter rate to 36.3 cents from 34.4.
First class postage would increase to 39 cents from 37 and the charge for additional ounces would go to 24 cents from 23.
Postcard rates would increase from 23 cents to 24 cents.
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