The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, June 14, 1978-Page 9
Gov't report hits postal service
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Postal
Service might be better off junking the volume while its main private com- proved the 35 per cent increase, making centers. The centers are located at
$1 billion automated system it built to petitor, United Parcel Service, is in- the current rates even higher than Atlanta; Cincinnati; Chicago; Dallas;
sort packages, a government report creasg its volume. those on which GAO based its predic- Denver; Detroit; Des Moines; Green-
said yesterday. "COST IS the primary concern of tions. sboro, N.C.; Jacksonville; Kansas
The General Accounting Office major mailers in deciding how to ship GAO, the congressional auditing City; Los Angeles; Memphis; Min-
(GAO) said the system "is approaching parcels, and the service's principal agency, said, "If parcel volume further neapolis; New York; Philadelphia; Pit-
the point where it would not be cost- competitor United Parcel generally of- declines as projected, the system ma tsburgh; St. Louis; San Francisco;
effective to continue its operation." fers lower rates," the GAO said. prove to be more costly to operate thin Seattle; Springfield, Mass., and
THE SYSTEM, opened two years For instance, to send a 10-pound par- alternative means to move bulk mail." Washington.
ago, consists of 21 highly mechanized cel from Washington to Los Angeles
centers for sorting packages and other costs $3.72 via United Parcel, but $5.34 POSTMASTER General William F The GAO report quotes a recent
large items, including sacks full of under the new postal rate. Bolger said in a response printed in the PostalServ e projection bhatd the
mail. First-class letters are handled The report wasewrittensabout a month re tha r the sa nServicetaing nua total will dip to 137 million parcels
separately. ago, but released Tuesday by Rep. steps poto hmakee the a systemc work i better. i tta 1915.t 17milonprcl
But the construction cost, the largest Charles H. Wilson, (D-Calif.), at a But in line with our recommen- 19
investment ever made by the Postal hearingof a House Post Office sub- datin enye am nga I ac1976hearing before a HosePost
Service, is only worthwhile if the committee. dation, we have been evaluating alter- Office subcommittee chaired by
natives, such as closing some of the Wilson,' postal officials said 300 million
system handles enough packages to THE REPORT is based on a then- centers. We do not find any such alter- prls a yar ould have to mo
justify it. pending rate increase proposal of 25.8 natives to be warranted at the present parcels a year would have to move
Because postal rates have been in- per cent in parcel rates, which it said time,"sBolgersaid. through the automated system to make
creasing, including a 35 per cent hike in would cause more mailers to desert the One possibility mentioned by Bolger the investmentA orth arcel ost
parcel rates last month, shippers have Postal Service for United Parcel, is to give mailers a discount if they delivery today is slower than before the
been turning to private carriers. The However, after the report was writ- bring their packages to one of the 21 system was built.
Postal Service continues to lose parcel ten, the Postal Rate Commission ap-
COULD APPEAR ON FALL BALLOT:
Milliken hints at supporting tax proposal
LANSING (UPI) - Gov. William
Milliken hinted yesterday he might
support a tax limit proposal which will
probably appear on the fall ballot, ter-
ming the plan "carefully, skillfully and
responsibly drawn."
The governor, however, said he was
now analyzing the ramifications of the
proposal and was still looking for cer-
tain guarantees.
"I MUST say, in all candor, that I
must be assured personally that ap-
proval of this proposal would not
severely and seriously inhibit the
ability of the state in meeting its essen-
tial responsibilities in such areas as
education and mental health and so
on," he said.
Sponsors of a petition drive to get the
tax limitation question on the Novem-
ber ballot say they need about 65,000
more signatures to qualify.
In his most positive statement to date
on the concept, he said the proposal was
an improvement over a more rigid ver-
sion that failed at the polls in 1976. He
said that proposal "was filled with all
kinds of serious flaws."
"BUT THAT IS not true with this
one," he said. "This one has been
carefully and skillfully and responsibly
drawn. I think it is deserving of very
serious consideration."
The new proposal would prohibit
government spending and taxation
from growing any faster than the total
personal income of its citizens. It also
includes some property tax reforms
and would require voter approval of
bond sales.
MIlliken's budget chief, Gerald
Miller, said he expects the question to
win voter approval if it gets on the
ballot. Miller said that as budget direc-
tor, he could live with the tax limit.
THE TAX limitation was endorsed
yesterday, although with some qualms,
by House Republican Leader Dennis
Cawthorne of Muskegon. He was the
first legislative leader to publicly sup-
port the proposal.
"As a legislator of 12 years' ex-
perience, I must say I have a basic lack
of confidence in the legislature's ability
to say 'no' to individual interest
groups, said Cawthorne, who is
retiring from the legislature this year.
"Interest groups come in and one at a
time successfully make demands on the
state treasury. It seems to me the only
way that we are going to be able to say
'no' to individual interest groups is to
establish some type of overall tax
limitation."
Cawthorne said by turning down the
current, "relatively responsible" tax
limitation plan, "we may indeed be in-
viting worse to come in Michigan later
on."
"I am more than ever convinced that
government and the bureaucracy will
indeed just grow and grow unless there
is some kind of overall upper limit," he
said.
The John Rankin house in Ripley,
Ohio, was once a major stop on the
underground railway. A lantern.
placed in its upper window, visible
across the Ohio River in Kentucky,
helped some 2,000 escaping slaves
find their way to the safety of the free
state.
Effects of California
tax slash mounting
(Continuedfrom Page 1) problems arising from losses estimated
depend on how much money the district at $157 million, almost one-third of the
gets from the state Legislature, which $450 million the city normally derives
is deciding how to use a surplus of $5.3 from property taxes.
billion to blunt the impact of the tax As Moscone spoke, the city's
measure on local governments. Municipal Railway announced plans to
In San Diego, the school board on cut bus, cable car and trolley service 20
Monday also cut out summer school, per cent and boost fares to 45 cents
saving the district $3.7 million of an ex- from the current 25 cents. The regional
pected $78 million budget cut. subway system, BART, would not be af-
fected since most of its revenue comes
SIMILAR budget-cutting measures from the state sales tax.
have been taken elsewhere in Califor- County Supervisor Ed Edelman says
nia since voters on June 6 approved he will ask Gov. Edmund Brown and
Proposition 13 by an almost 2-1 margin, the Legislature to put another con-
The tax initiative mandates a property stitutional amendment on the Novem-
tax limit of one per cent of market ber ballot which would restrict the
value, a lid which will result in a tax property tax cut in Proposition 13 to
reduction of about 57 per cent for the homeowners. About two-thirds of the $7
average home. billion tax cut in the initiative promoted
San Francisco Mayor George by tax reformer Howard Jarvis is going
Moscone's emergency declaration to commercial property owners and
means sections of the city charter may landlords because they pay the most
be suspended to deal with financial taxes.
MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE COLLEGIUM
MARC STUDENT HOUSING
FALL AND WINTER 1978-79
Would you like to live in an elegant neo-Tudor mansion (East Quad?) Dining hall, library,
cultural events, interesting associates, old world ambience. The Medieval and Renaissance
Collegium is now accepting reservations for student accommodations in the MARC Residence
House; effective September 1978. If you are a MARC concentrator or if you are interested in
the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, you are eligible to live in the MARC House. For infor-
mation or to reserve a room for the fall, see the director, Russell Fraser (2619 Haven,
764-4140), or phone the MARC office 763-2066, or stop by the office (M-F 9:00-12:00
and 1:00-4:00206 Tyler East Quad) with your name and address. Act now on your reservation.
Only a limited number of places are available.
Redeamus ad antra.
ARMY SURPLUS
BRAND NEW SHORT SLEEVE PERMA-PRESS
G.l. KHAKI SHIRTS-$69
REGULAR ISSUE
Vietnam Jungle Boots-$2S'
Nickel Cigar Sleeping Bag
3 lb. Fiberfill l-complete with stuff sock
Reg. $41.98 SALE $3698
(Good through Sat. June 17)
201 E. Washington-994-3572
MONDAY-SATURDAY 9-6