Postal Rates Could Go Up Next Year

The Postal Service filed a request Friday seeking higher rates.

The agency wants a 2-cent increase in first-class mail, and similar increases for other types of mail, to take effect early next year.

The agency said that it is seeking the increase, 5.4 percent across the board, only because of a requirement that it establish an escrow fund with a $3.1 billion payment next year.

The agency has sought congressional action to eliminate that requirement. If that happens, postal officials said, the rate increase request will be withdrawn.

The process of raising postal rates takes nearly a year. The request is filed with the independent Postal Rate Commission, which doesn't always give the Postal Service what it requests. For years, for example, the PRC balked at raising the price of postcards.

Last month, the Postal Service said it hoped to get an expedited review from the commission, and implement the increase in January. The normal nine to ten months the PRC is allowed would mean a mid-year rate hike.

The last rate increase was three cents, in 2002.