Rainy Friday

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Now playing: David Lanz - Lost in Paradise
via FoxyTunes
Not a bad find-- thirty seven cents (the price of a stamp six years ago) in the form of a dime, a quarter, two pennies and a broken heart. The latter is furnished by arguments with a close friend-- not the Changepot or any of its contents. Hubs found the quarter and a penny to compliment while I found eleven cents at the gym.


Total found: $0.37
Total thus far: $94.91

Stamp prices to rise from 34 to 37 cents

By: Shelby Sebens

Posted: 4/1/02

The U.S. Postal Service has suffered financially because of the economic struggles following the 9-11 attacks, and the strain is causing stamp prices to rise again this year.

The prices will rise from 34 cents to 37 cents after being raised last year from 33 to 34 cents.

"We're looking for the rates to go up no sooner than June 30," Susan Litterly, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service in Springfield, said.

Reasons for this price increase have come about in the aftermath of terrorism, reduced revenues, economic recession, depression in the advertising mail market and electronic diversion, Litterly said.

According to Litterly, these problems have occurred for many years now, but the effects of 9-11 had even greater consequences this year.

"Our mail volume nationwide dropped 5 percent from last year," she said, adding the problem increased because they received 1.7 million new addresses to serve this year resulting in a loss of money because of the declining volume.

"Obviously there's a need [to raise prices] or we wouldn't do it," Postmaster for the Normal Post Office Kelly Stoll said.

The rise in price is necessary, Stoll added, because of the drop in revenue since 9-11. In her opinion, Normal has definitely seen a decrease.

The post office receives no money from taxes, Litterly said, all their profits come from sales. The money goes to labor, transportation, retirement and insurance for employees, Litterly said.

For the first time in history, the postal service got together with the large mailers and the postal rate commission to determine what an appropriate cost would be for the stamps.

Generally the process of raising stamp prices takes around a year and a half, but as a result of the severity of the need this year it only took a few months, Litterly said.

"Under the law we're mandated to break even over time," Litterly said.

She said this meant their revenue must equal their costs.

"These large mailers and the postal rate commission decided from the decline in mail advertising, economic recession and the aftermath of terrorism that something needed to be done," Litterly said.

"I don't think it's going to affect business. I think people are going to pay it to keep the post office going," Stoll said.

Sophomore business major Kori Freund said she has no problem paying the extra three cents because it is such a necessity for the postal service.

Freund said her mailing habits would not change as a result of this price increase.

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