Postal rates go up today. The cost of mailing a first-class letter jumps two cents, from 37 cents to 39 cents.

But the U.S. Postal Service didn’t intend it that way, according to a Lawrence man who served several years on the Postal Rate Commission.

“The Postal Service had not intended to raise rates for another year or two,” said Ed Quick, who served on the commission from 1991 to 1997.

While the Postal Service comes under fire every time it raises rates, postal officials are saying that this time the increases are necessary because the service was mandated to put money into an escrow account. It will be up to Congress to decide at a later date how the $3.1 billion in the account will be used, according to the Postal Service.

Why the escrow account?

“There are very complicated, bureaucratic maneuverings and politics that get involved,” Quick said.

According to Quick, the Postal Service put aside money to be paid as benefits to retiring employees. A few years ago it was determined that more money was put aside than was needed. The extra money went into the federal budget with the understanding the money would be given back to cover Postal Service operating costs.

• U.S. Postal Service

In the meantime, there have been proposals to reform the service, and the federal Office of Management and Budget decided that giving the money back would add to the federal deficit, Quick said.

Quick, 66, was appointed to the rate commission by President George H.W. Bush on the recommendation of U.S. Sen. David Pryor, D-Arkansas. He had to be confirmed by the Senate. Quick had worked several years as an assistant in Pryor’s office. Previously he had worked a number of years as an assistant to former U.S. Sen. Thomas Eagleton, D-Mo.

“It’s not a high profile position in Washington, except every few years when a rate increase comes up,” Quick said of being on the rate commission.