BUDGET: “The U.S. Postal Service said its dwindling cash cushion forced it to skip retiree payments for the fifth straight year and warned about its ability to keep raising prices.
The agency is expected to soon announce price increases for 2018, but the move could be challenged since rate changes require approval of its Board of Governors. The board, which is appointed by the President, hasn’t had a member since last December.
The quasigovernmental agency’s financial situation has grown more precarious as mail volume has dropped. The agency hasn’t made federally mandated payments to retirees’ pension and health-care accounts since fiscal 2012, totaling roughly $40 billion. It skipped a $6.9 billion payment to retiree plans last week…
The agency only has enough cash to fund 38 days of operating expenses, she wrote on Sept. 27, less than a quarter of what outside advisers say is needed for a sound financial cushion.
It is unclear what the rate of increase for postal services will be. The price increases for ‘market-dominant’ products, which include first-class and standard mail, periodicals, can’t exceed the inflation rate, which was at 1.7% as of August.”
-Paul Ziobro, “U.S. Postal Service Likely to Raise Prices to Bolster Cash Cushion,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 6, 2017 07:44am