THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010460
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
The cost of mailing a letter is going up after the holidays - from 29 cents to 32 cents.
The independent Postal Rate Commission on Wednesday approved the Postal Service request for the January increase.
But the commission turned down a plan to raise nearly all postage rates by the same percentage - instead, setting larger increases for mailing printed matter, advertising and parcels, and holding down the increase for heavier first-class items.
The package is expected to bring the Postal Service $4.7 billion in added income in 1995, said Rate Commission Chairman Edward J. Gleiman. The post office lost $1.3 billion in the just-completed fiscal year and $1.7 billion the year before.
The increase is expected to cost the typical household an extra 60 to 75 cents per month.
The matter now goes back to the post office's governing board, which is expected to hold a special meeting this month to set a date for the increase - perhaps as early as Jan. 1.
The governors could reject the commission's decision and ask it to reconsider. That outcome is unlikely, however, since the ruling has few major differences from the Postal Service's request and the agency urgently needs additional income. ILLUSTRATION: [color picture of a stamp]
by CNB