Published: May 09, 2008 11:32 am         

Postage rates on the rise

Stamps to cost 42 cents beginning Monday

A one-cent stamp increase starting Monday will help the U.S. Postal Service with increasing operating costs.

“We have the largest vehicle fleet of anyone outside the military,” said Danville Postmaster Mike Hicks.

Just as the price of gas is affecting everyone else’s budgets, post offices are feeling the pinch, too, he said.

Hicks said the USPS operates on revenue received from operations, not taxpayer dollars.

It also has had struggles with declines in mail volume due to e-mail and online bill paying.

“We have the ability to ask for an annual increase to set our budget a little bit better,” Hicks said.

This approach is being used, instead of waiting three or four years and playing catch up, he said.

The USPS says it will adjust mailing service prices each May. By law, these prices can increase on average no more than the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

The USPS will provide 90 days notice of the new prices each year to help mailers prepare for the change.

According to the USPS, the cost of a first-class mail stamp will increase Monday to 42 cents.

Customers may continue to use the Forever Stamps purchased prior to May 12 at 41 cents, even after the price change.

Post offices will have 5 billion Forever Stamps in stock to meet increased demand before the price change.

The stamp increase comes a year after a two-cent increase and the introduction of the Forever Stamps.

This stamp can be used to mail a piece of first-class mail at any time in the future regardless of rate increases. Forever Stamps eliminate the need to buy 1-cent stamps because additional postage isn’t needed with them with rate increases.

To purchase more Forever Stamps starting Monday, however, the cost will be 42 cents each.

Other 41-cent stamps will require additional postage.

Along with the regular first-class mail postage hike, postcards also will go up a penny, to 27 cents.

Other changes include prices that could save customers money when shipping packages, according to the USPS.

They include: reduced Express Mail prices for items shipped to addresses closer to home, lower online postage prices for Ex-press Mail and Priority Mail (domestic and international), Volume Express Mail price rebates for frequent shippers and addi-tional flat-rate box prices for Priority Mail.

Hicks said the post office has received “a few phone calls” about the rate increase.

“Forever Stamps have really helped,” he said.

He said many won’t feel the increase right away because they’ve stocked up on the Forever Stamps at the current price.

Businesses and government entities, such as the city, will have to adjust their postage machines starting Monday.

Theresa Brazelton, executive assistant to Mayor Scott Eisenhauer, said they received a notice in the mail about resetting the postage machine.

She said buzz around the increase has seemed to be quieter this year than in the past.

Hicks said the post office already has 42-cent stamps available, and stamp increases won’t stop some collectors from continu-ing to buy the commemorative stamps.

A set of five 42-cent stamps honoring pioneering journalists are on sale, in addition to a set of four stamps featuring the American flag flying at different times of the day.