A Government Quasi-Entity Reluctantly Keeps Its Word

Back in 2014, I wrote an entry about the price of first class mail jumping from 46¢ to 49¢ and suggested that it should just jump to 50¢ and get it over with.  It would have generated more income for the postal service and also made it easier on everyone to figure out the cost of buying multiple stamps.  It would have been a win-sort of win.  Didn't happen, though.  Should have happened, though.

At the time the 3¢ increase was put in place along with other price increases for mailing and shipping services, it was stated that in 2016, the rates would drop back to where they would have been in 2014 after the normal increase that would have happened anyway to keep up with inflation.  The exigent surcharge, a fancy name for the price increase beyond the normal price increase, was meant to reduce the massive deficit which had occurred as a result of the loss of revenue to competitors and the ever-increasing costs of running the postal business.

Did the temporary increase in mailing and shipping costs help?  Some, but not enough. Our beloved US Postal Service is still running more than significantly in the red and it's not going to improve as much as was hoped for in its five-year plan.  They did quite a bit to streamline their costs and there is more to be done.  But, they still need more income.  As a result, the USPS is requesting to take back its promised fall-back pricing or, as they put it, "... to seek congressional action to reinstate and make the exigent surcharge permanent." Yes, our postal service really does have to get congressional approval for just about everything it does.  Considering that they're supposed to be a business entity now separate from the Federal government, that might be part of their problem.  But, there you are.

Whether the US Postal Service gets those price increases reinstated remains to be seen.  But, it's not going to happen immediately.  So, buy those cheaper Forever stamps at 47¢ each while the gettin's good.  They might lose $2 billion a year as a result of the roll-back pricing, but you'll save $2 on a roll of 100 stamps.

The obvious sarcasm of my last sentence regarding saving a few pennies aside, the US Postal Service's financial crisis needs to be addressed more seriously and quickly by all sides than I've seen done so far or we might end up with no postal service and no one at the ready to take their place.  Give that some thought next time you attach a stamp to an envelope to send it on its way.