First-class postal rate going to 37 cents
WASHINGTON (AP) – Starting June 30 it’ll cost more to keep those cards and letters coming. The first-class mail rate will rise 3 cents to 37 cents and most other prices will also go up. The new rates were approved in February and the effective date was announced Tuesday by the Postal Service’s board of governors.
At the same time, Postmaster General John Potter repeated his promise that rates won’t rise again until at least 2004.
Postal board chairman Robert F. Rider said the June increase will help the agency cope with its current economic problems but “the governors recognize that continual rate increases are not the long-term answer.”
The post office said nondenominated stamps valued at the new 37-cent rate will go on sale in mid-June. One will feature the U.S. flag, and there will be a four-stamp set depicting antique toys. There will also be a “makeup rate” stamp, displaying a star, worth 3 cents for use with leftover 34-cent stamps.
The increases affect only domestic mail. The international letter rate of 60 cents for the first ounce to Mexico and Canada and 80 cents to other countries remains unchanged.
The increase will give the cash-strapped Postal Service a boost as it tries to cope with declining business and hundreds of millions of dollars in costs from the terror attacks and anthrax contamination last fall.
Chief Financial Officer Richard J. Strasser said mail volume continues to lag and the post office was $303 million in the red for the second quarter of the year.
cutting expenditures by $499 million.
Strasser said the agency is sending Congress a request for $799 million in fiscal 2003 for air monitoring equipment, filtration systems and added security measures to prevent another anthrax-by-mail attack.
The post office does not receive taxpayer funds for operations. But it received a $500 million special appropriation this fiscal year to help handle the contamination, and President Bush has included an additional $87 million for the agency in his budget request.
The Postal Service suffered a $1.6 billion loss last year, before the terror attacks that cost it hundreds of millions more. The agency has halted new construction and cut its staff by 12,000 last year and another 8,000 this year.
While this rate increase is expected to provide some financial breathing room, income continues to fall short of expenses and officials stress that to achieve long-term health the agency needs changes in the way it operates.
Potter has announced an end to the self-imposed freeze on closing small post offices and sent a transformation plan to Congress seeking more flexibility in changing rates, adding new services and negotiating charges to large mailers.
While the cost of the first ounce of first-class mail goes up 3 cents, each additional ounce will remain at 23 cents.
Some other rates taking effect include:
-Postcard: 23 cents, up 2 cents.
-Priority mail, 1 pound: $3.85, up 35 cents.
-Express mail, 8 ounces: $13.65, up $1.20.
-Parcel post (varies), typical 2 pound: $4.14, up 69 cents.
-Certified mail: $2.30, up 10 cents.
-Signed return receipt: $1.75, up 25 cents.
-Money order up to $500: 90 cents, unchanged.
-Bank statement, 3 ounces: 83 cents, up 3 cents.
-Presorted utility bill: 27.8 cents, up 2.3 cents.
-Weekly news magazine, presorted, 5.8 ounces: 17.5 cents, up 1 cent.
-Household magazine, presorted, 13.8 ounces: 27.4 cents, up 1.5 cents.
-National newspaper, presorted, 10 ounces: 30.3 cents, up 2.6 cents.
-In-county newspaper, presorted, 4.5 ounces: 6 cents, unchanged.
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