Non-Profit Groups Fight Postal Plan

Non-profit groups have attacked the Postal Service’s plan to raise postage rates for charities by 15 to 18 per cent while raising commercial rates by an average of only 4.5 per cent.

The proposed increases are part of an overall plan to raise rates of all mailers (The Chronicle, July 10). If approved by the Postal Rate Commission, an independent body that reviews postal increases, the new rates could take effect in May.

The Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, which represents more than 100 groups, says that the rate plans are based on the erroneous argument that non-profit mail costs have increased more than those for commercial mail.

The group filed a joint motion with the American Library Association asking the Postal Rate Commission to delay the proceedings. At issue, according to the motion, is out-of-date and incomplete data that the Postal Service is using to justify the planned postage increases.

The motion also charges that the data were provided several months late, not giving non-profit groups and other mailers adequate time to fully review and respond to them.

In response to the motion, the Postal Rate Commission issued an order last week to delay the proceedings by six weeks. “At minimum, the Postal Service should provide a complete, detailed road map to allow a reviewer easy access to sources used,” commission officials said in a statement released with the decision.