AP Photo Archive
The U.S. Postal Service released the images of the first-class stamp, Lady Liberty and U.S. Flag, Jan. 8.

Stamp increase causes patrons to rush Postal Service Offices

Amy Barrus BAR04050@BYUI.EDU News Asst. Editor

Anyone who drops a letter in the mail with a 37-cent stamp after Sunday, Jan. 8, might be surprised when it comes back with the message “insufficient postage” stamped on it.

A postage rate increase of 2 cents occurred on Jan. 8, raising stamp prices to 39 cents. This is the first rate increase since 2002, said Jeff Cole, supervisor of customer services at the Rexburg Post Office.

Cole also said that although it was extremely busy on the Friday and Saturday before the increase, especially with students arriving for the new semester, supplies of 2-cent and 39-cent stamps were ample.

Not every post office in the nation could say that though.

From Pennsylvania to California and from Arizona to South Carolina, 2-cent stamp shortages have been a problem in post offices.

Part of the problem could be due to lack of advertising. Many people across the nation professed to not have heard about the rate increase until they couldn’t send a letter.

That might have been the secret to the Rexburg Post Office’s success. The rate increase was advertised through the radio, local newspapers, posters in several buildings and a scrolling sign above the window clerks.

The Postal Service said it needed to raise stamp prices to cover increased fuel costs. A one-cent increase in gas prices means $8 million in additional costs to the Postal Service. In the past 12 months, gasoline has risen about 30 percent, to a national average of $2.133, according to newsday.com.

The Postal Service is the only government entity that isn’t subsidized by the government, Cole said.

But even without government help, the Rexburg Post Office is doing well.

“We’re actually out of the red now,” Cole said. “Like every post office we have a plan, and we’re supposed to do whatever we can to increase revenue because that’s the only way we survive.”