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On January 12, Megan Brennan, Postmaster General, announced that the Postal Service was reviewing the rollback of the Exigent Surcharge; which should take effect the first week of April.
The Exigent Surcharge was originally implemented in January 2014 and was a 4.3% increase to the 2013 rates (which allowed the Postal Service to recoup lost revenue due to the drop in mail volumes between 2007-2011)
Even though the original surcharge was 4.3%, we won’t be seeing rates reduced by 4.3% at time of rollback. This is due to the fact that we’ve experienced two Consumer Price Index (CPI) postage increases; for which the surcharge is not applied.
Therefore, the true calculation is to take the current rates and subtract the 2013 Exigent increase value.
Below are a few examples of what the new rates will be:
First Class Letter (under 1oz): $.47 (was $.49)
First Class Flat (under 1oz): $.94 (was $.98)
Average* First Class Presort Letter (under 2oz): $.399 (was $.416)
Average* First Class Presort Flat (under 1oz): $.65 (was $.682)
Average* Non-Profit Letter (under 3.5oz): $.159 (was $.164)
Average* Non-Profit Flat (under 3.3oz): $.283 (was $.293)
Average* Commercial Letter (under 3.5oz): $.274 (was $.283)
Average* Commercial Flat (under 3.3oz): $.422 (was $.436)
*Average rates are 5-Digit and 3-Digit rate categories averaged
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