Maine Will Be Affected by Latest Change From the USPS

Mainers rely heavily on the United States Postal Service. It’s a vital and necessary resource. However, we’ll be affected by this latest shift.

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Yes, we really mean what we said about the United States Postal Service: it's important to our everyday lives here in Maine. Folks may not think about it, but seriously, it's a lot like oxygen—it's just always there, and you don't need to think about it.

We use it to send and receive things from folks across town, across the county, across the state, across the country, or even across the world.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that our connections and communications would be much harder to maintain without the Postal Service.

However, that being said, the USPS has changes set to kick in this summer that will affect Mainers and their wallets.

The price of a ‘Forever’ stamp will increase by five cents, from 68 cents to 73 cents, marking the second postage price increase this year by the USPS. Since the introduction of ‘Forever’ stamps in 2007 at 41 cents, their cost has steadily risen, most recently from 66 cents to 68 cents in January 2024.

Unsurprisingly, as everything is nowadays, other postage rates are also increasing: domestic postcards will now cost 56 cents, a 3-cent rise, and international postcards and letters will each cost $1.65, a 10-cent increase. Overall, postage costs will rise by 7.8%.

The USPS states these adjustments are necessary for financial stability under their ‘Delivering for America’ 10-year plan. But what is that?

In a vacuum, the USPS's ‘Delivering for America’ plan, introduced in March 2021, aims to transform the Postal Service from a ‘financially troubled’ organization to a self-sustaining and high-performing one.

The plan hopes to achieve financial stability for the USPS, targeting a break-even performance and reversing a projected $160 billion loss over ten years.

Key elements include modernizing services for better reliability and affordability, maintaining six-day mail and expanding seven-day package delivery, ensuring workforce stability and investing in employee success, fostering innovation to grow revenue, and securing financial sustainability to support their universal service mission.

The new rates start on July 14.