Watchdog Slams Postal Service After Latest Rate Hike

For Immediate Release                                                  Contact: Courtney Mattison (202) 525-7492‬

July 10, 2023

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) criticized postal leadership for the latest in a series of postage rate hikes. On July 9, the United States Postal Service (USPS) increased the price of first-class Forever stamps from 63 cents to 66 cents. Additionally, America’s mail carrier is, “seeking price adjustments for Special Services products including Certified Mail, Post Office Box rental fees, money order fees and the cost to purchase insurance when mailing an item.” These price increases come just months after the beleaguered agency raised rates on consumers in January 2023 and a year after a July 2022 increase.  Postal leadership has claimed that higher stamp prices will lead to more revenue and offset growing, multi-billion-dollar net losses.

TPA President David Williams slammed the latest price hike, stating, “consumers are sick of paying higher prices for sub-par service. A first-class stamp now costs double what it cost twenty-five years ago. These perpetual increases have not made America’s mail carrier any faster, efficient, or more reliable. New service standards promulgated over the past two years have normalized slower deliveries, despite estimated cost savings being a fraction of a percent of agency losses. The USPS has already lost around $3 billion since the start of fiscal year 2023. Clearly, perpetual price hikes are not the solution to the USPS’ longstanding woes.”

Williams continued: “USPS leadership mistakenly believes that, if they hike prices enough, they can undo decades of financial mismanagement. This could not be further from reality. America’s mail carrier has overbuilt its network and continues to recklessly cross-subsidize packages, resulting in an astounding $100 billion in net losses over the past fifteen years. According to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, additional losses through 2030 may climb to $70 billion. While President Biden signed ‘reform’ legislation into law in April 2022, these changes have only exacerbated the agency’s fiscal issues. It is time for real change that can get the USPS on firmer fiscal footing.”

Williams concluded: “Twenty years from now, we might look back fondly at the days of ‘cheap’ 66 cent first-class stamps. The USPS can avoid that sorry scenario by pursuing proper pricing and smartly consolidating its network. There’s no excuse for budget-busting net losses and endless price hikes on struggling consumers.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.