MT. VERNON — The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a rate increase for first class postage stamps, which if approved, could go into effect the first of the year.

Mt. Vernon Postmaster Larry Delahunt said the USPS is proposing a 5.6 percent rate increase on market dominant products, which would increase the price of a First-class Mail stamp 2 cents to 46 cents. Postcards would also increase 2 cents to 30 cents. However, the rate for the Forever Stamp, which will get a makeover in design this fall, will remain the same price at 44 cents.

In its proposal to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the USPS is recommending the rate increase effective Jan. 2.

According to a press release, the rate increase would raise about $2.3 billion the first nine months of 2011. The USPS has projected a deficit of $7 billion for the next fiscal year, and though work hours and expenses have been reduced by more than $1 billion in the past decade, a budget gap remains, information states.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, the PRC had not received a request of the proposed rate increases yet, according to PRC Media Relations Specialist, Norm Scherstrom. Once the Commission receives the request, the PRC will establish a docket in order to hold a public hearing on the proposal and invite public comment as per law.

“Within 90 days the Commission will issue a decision,” he said, adding he anticipated the decision “no later than Oct. 4.”

The PRC must approve recommended price changes and if so, it would be the first rate increase in two years. Postmaster General John E. Potter announced in the spring a series of solutions to help the USPS’s struggling financial battles, including changes to delivery frequency, restructuring prepayments of retiree health benefits, creating a more flexible workforce and expanding access to products and services for customers in more convenient places.

“There is no one single solution to the dire financial situation that the Postal Service faces,” Potter stated. “These proposed rate adjustments are moderate and part of a fair and balanced approach to insuring mail service for all Americans well into the future.”

The USPS proposed the elimination of Saturday mail delivery in March, and the PRC has held seven field hearings on the issue, Scherstrom said.

“We recently completed (a hearing) in Buffalo, N.Y., and on July 14 will hold the first hearing in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “The Commission held a pre-hearing recently and there will be a series of four more hearings after that.”

Scherstrom added the USPS proposed the elimination of Saturday delivery as a cost-savings measure.

“Mail volume had declined in such a way they felt it feasible to do this and (also) save them a considerable amount of money,” he said. “That’s one of the issues (of eliminating Saturday delivery) the commission is looking at.”

The PRC is seeking public comment on the issue, according to its Web site, and is asking whether the savings the Postal Service anticipates will be as significant as it anticipates; if mail volume will decline more; if businesses and citizens have service that remains adequate for their needs; and if the national economic impact of service reductions have offset or added to the savings proposed.

The public is invited to informally share its views at www.prc.gov and by clicking the “contact PRC” tab, or by writing to Postal Regulatory Commission, Attention: Office of Public Affairs and Government Relations, 901 New York Ave., NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC, 20268-0001. 

Scherstrom said he expects the commission to issue an advisory opinion by October or November, however, only Congress can put into law any changes to the delivery of U.S. mail.

“So even if we advise, it takes an act of Congress (to change it). We believe the record we’re establishing will help Congress in their deliberations,” he said.

The USPS does not receive tax dollars for its operating expenses, information states, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

For more information about the postal rate proposal, or other services provided by the USPS, visit www.usps.gov.