WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The price of a first-class U.S. postage stamp is scheduled to go up to 39 cents -- a 2-cent increase.
The U.S. Postal Service made the announcement weeks ago, but some consumers complain they hadn't heard of the increase, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Sunday's increase for a first-class stamp is necessary because of legislation approved by Congress in 2003 requiring the Postal Service to put aside more than $3 billion each year into escrow beginning in 2006.
Without the escrow requirement, postage rates most likely would have remained at current levels until 2007, the Postal Service said in a statement.
"Postage rates have remained stable since 2002, a direct result of three straight years of operating surpluses and the cash generated from the surpluses have been used to reduce the Postal Service's once $11 billion in debt to zero," the statement said.