Price of First-Class Stamp to Hit 50 Cents
The U.S. Postal Service said it would raise stamp prices and other shipping rates next year, shortly after warning of a dwindling cash cushion and skipping payments into a retiree fund for the fifth straight year.
The agency on Friday proposed raising the price of a first-class stamp by a penny to 50 cents. The agency also proposed a 3.9% increase for shipping items like packages, a product line where it can raise prices at market rates. The price increases, which need approval of the Postal Regulatory Commission, would take effect Jan. 21, 2018.
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The quasigovernmental agency’s financial situation has grown more precarious as mail volume has dropped. The agency hasn’t made federally mandated payments to retirees’ pension and health-care accounts since fiscal 2012, totaling roughly $40 billion. It skipped a $6.9 billion payment to retiree plans last week.
“It is in the public interest for the Postal Service to default on these payment obligations in order to mitigate the risk of running out of cash,” Postmaster General Megan Brennan said in a letter to Congress last week.
The agency only has enough cash to fund 38 days of operating expenses, she wrote on Sept. 27, less than a quarter of what outside advisers say is needed for a sound financial cushion.
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The year started off with high hopes for postal reform legislation. A House bill that would have shifted retirees to Medicare and changed the funding schedule for some retirement benefits, among other changes, has stalled. Last week, Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, called on House Speaker Paul Ryan to call a vote on the bill. A spokesman for Mr. Ryan didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Postal Service is also hoping for a favorable review of current price restrictions by agency that oversees it, the Postal Regulatory Service, that would allow price increases beyond the current cap.
As of now, the Postal Service says any price increase it imposes could face court challenges because the agency’s Board of Governors currently doesn’t have any standing members. The last remaining governor’s term ended in December.
More..
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-postal-service-likely-to-raise-prices-to-bolster-cash-cushion-1507282204
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I am surprised that the WSJ is the only place where I can find the story. Also, I used to hate the junk mail, now I welcome it, realizing that this is what helps keeps the agency solvent. Somehow..
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