The U.S. Postal Service has plans to increase its prices for
postage, but not until after Christmas.
These changes will be put in
place to increase revenue for the U.S. Postal service by $2 million. Effective in January of 2014 the prices are
as follows:
·
1 oz.
Letters: rises 3 cents to 49 cents
·
Letters
greater than 1 oz.: increases 1 cent to 21 cents
·
Letters
with international destinations: $1.15
·
Postcards:
increases 1 cent to 34 cents
Typically the Post Office keeps up its prices with the Consumer
Price Index’s rate of inflation. This
year inflation has risen to 4.2%. According
to Governors of the Postal Service, these new prices are higher than the
inflation rate. Even though U.S.P.S.
mostly caps prices with the CP index, this elevation was deemed necessary to
keep the Postal Service still operating.
Every year the Postal Service faces serious financial
challenges because revenue does not keep up with operation costs. Last fiscal year alone a total $15.9 billion
debt was accrued. This year it is
expected that an additional $6 billion will be added to the debt, surpassing
the $20 billion checkpoint. The Post
Office no longer receives any government subsidies.
These price proposals will be reviewed further at the
legislative level, but should they become effective, those increases will start
on January 26, 2014.
