January 24, 2002 | Read Time: 3 minutes
A coalition of for-profit and nonprofit organizations that rely heavily on the mail has agreed
not to oppose the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal to raise rates June 30, which would be the second increase in 12 months.
Under the new rates, the cost for nonprofit groups to mail a standard letter would rise from 15.8 cents to 16.5 cents, an increase of 4.4 percent.
Rates for periodicals would increase from 22 cents to 23 cents, up 4.5 percent.
The coalition of mailers said it agreed to an average 8.7-percent increase for all for-profit and nonprofit postal rate categories because it feared its member organizations would face a bigger increase if it did not.
The Postal Service made its proposal before the terrorist and anthrax attacks last fall. Since that time, the service’s finances have worsened because of those events, as well as a slowing economy, said Gerry Kreienkamp, a Postal Service spokesman.
Overall mail volume dropped 5.5 percent in the last quarter of 2001, he said, compared to the same period in 2000. In addition, the Postal Service expects to spend up to $3-billion on new equipment to sanitize mail and on training and other protective measures for employees.
Mr. Kreienkamp said the Postal Service expects to lose $2-billion in revenue this year. The new rates, he said, would generate $4.3-billion in additional revenue over the next year.
Neal Denton, executive director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, in Washington, described the mailers’ decision not to fight the proposed rate increase as “a dollars-and-cents decision.”
He added, “Accepting the June 30 rate is going to be much more attractive than letting the Postal Service add on all these additional costs” incurred as a result of the terrorism attacks.
The Postal Rate Commission will vote in late March on whether to recommend the new rates.
The proposed rate hike would then have to be approved by the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors before any changes could take effect.
PROPOSED RATES FOR BULK NONPROFIT MAIL SCHEDULED TO TAKE EFFECT IN JUNE
| FOR LETTERS | ||
| Current rate | New rate | |
| Basic rate | 15.8 | 16.5 |
| Sorted by ZIP code 1 | 14.6 | 15.3 |
| Enhanced carrier route | 11.8 | 12.6 |
| High density 2 | 9.5 | 10.2 |
| Saturation mailings3 | 8.9 | 9.5 |
| Bar coding (basic) | n/a | 14.4 |
| Sorted by ZIP code to 3 digits 4 | 12.3 | 12.9 |
| Sorted by ZIP code to 5 digits 4 | 10.8 | 11.4 |
| Sorted by carrier route | 10.5 | 11.1 |
| FOR NONLETTERS | ||
| Current rate | New rate | |
| Basic rate per piece | 22.0 | 23.0 |
| Sorted by ZIP code 1 | 17.1 | 18.3 |
| Enhanced carrier route | 11.8 | 12.6 |
| High density 2 | 10.2 | 11.0 |
| Saturation mailings 3 | 9.7 | 10.4 |
| Automation (basic) | 17.9 | 18.9 |
| Sorted by ZIP code 1 | 15.4 | 16.6 |
| Note: Letters are defined as pieces 6-1/8 inches by 11-1/2 inches or smaller, not thicker than 1/4 inch, and weighing no more than 3.3 ounces. | ||
| 1 Under current and new rates, ZIP-code discounts under the basic rate are available for mail sorted to the first 3 or 5 digits. 2 Must be in batches of 125 or more pieces per carrier route and sorted according to the “walk sequence” of addresses on the route. 3 Mail that is sent to 75 percent of the addresses or 90 percent of the residences on a carrier’s route. Must be sorted according to the “walk sequence” of addresses on the route. 4 Must have 150 pieces to qualify for this rate. |
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