First-Class Stamp May Cost 25 Cents Soon

The Postal Rate Commission approved a request today to raise the cost of a first-class stamp to 25 cents, the first postage hike in three years.

A final decision on implementing the 3-cent increase and other new rates is up to the board of governors of the U.S. Postal Service, which requested the hikes 10 months ago.

The board could take up the price hike as early as next week.

The increase in the cost of a first-class stamp and other types of postage will raise an additional $4.3 billion in revenue for the Postal Service, a spokesman said.

The detailed and complex package of rate hikes recommended by the rate commission included increases in most classes of mail. The Postal Service had wanted increases averaging 16%.

In addition to the increase in the price of a first-class stamp, the cost of sending a postcard will increase from 14 cents to 15 cents and third-class bulk advertising mail will advance by 25%.

Second-class mail for magazines and newspapers will increase by 18% and parcel post rates will edge up 15%.

17.5% Overall Increase

The average overall increase for all classes of mail approved by the commission was 17.5%.

The commission attributed the increases to rising labor and health care costs and a new retirement program for postal workers.

Mailing a first-class letter has cost 22 cents since February, 1985.

The Postal Service, which was reorganized along the lines of a private corporation in 1970, lost $125 million in 1987 after posting a surplus of $305 million in 1986.

Last May, the board asked the commission to increase the cost of a first-class stamp from 22 cents to a quarter, but the independent agency took nearly 10 months to rule on the request.

The commission held a lengthy series of hearings and gathered more than 40,000 pages of testimony and depositions on the proposed hike.