Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Thirty-three cents just won't cut it anymore, as far as the post office is concerned. As of Sunday, Steamboat's post offices will be raising their first-class letter rate from 33 cents to 34 cents, as will every post office in the country.

But the 3 percent increase is only one of the increases slated to go into effect this Sunday. Certified mail, for instance, will rise from $1.40 to $1.90, nearly a 36 percent increase.

The new 34-cent stamps are already available at Steamboat's post offices, as are coils of one-cent stamps that will help mass mailers with loads of 33-cent stamps on hand make the transition.

"Some of our customers buy stamps in large quantities," said Vigil Padilla, the customer service supervisor at the Steamboat Post Office. "Quite a few of them are buying one-cent stamps to complement their 33-cent stamps now."

The post office will make the transition to the new stamp rates on Sunday, when the post office is closed, so as not to disrupt the flow of business, Padilla said.

The post office claimed the rise is necessary because of rising fuel prices and other higher costs. This increase marks the second penny increase in the past six years, the last one being in January 1999.

The cost of mailing each additional ounce of a first-class letter will actually decrease, from 22 cents to 21 cents.

Other costs, however, will be going up. The cost of a priority mail envelope up to one pound will rise from $3.20 to $3.50 and the two-pound priority flat rate will go from $3.20 to $3.95.

The cost of sending a postcard to another country is also on the rise. For postcards to countries other than Canada and Mexico, for instance, the rate will rise from $0.55 to $0.70.