1991 May See 30-Cent 1st-Class Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service will file March 6 for an approximately 20% increase in postal rates, which will translate into a 30-cent first-class stamp in early 1991, Postmaster General Anthony M. Frank said Monday.
Frank said last year that first-class postage would rise in 1991 to at least 28 cents and perhaps as high as 32 cents. The Postal Service is expected to suffer its worst deficit ever this year, more than $1.5 billion.
The soon-to-be proposed increase will affect all postal rates, a Postal Service spokeswoman said Monday. The independent Postal Rate Commission will review the request and can modify it, Frank said.
The increase is needed because of higher expenses, particularly labor and fuel costs, Frank said at a news conference Monday in Los Angeles.
The last rate hike came in April, 1988, when the price of a first-class stamp jumped to 25 cents from 22 cents. Frank acknowledged that the increase will be higher than the rate of inflation over the three-year period.
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