Changing Postal ZIP Code Boundaries (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Feb. 2, 2011 |
| Report Number |
RL33488 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Wendy Ginsberg, Analyst in Government Organization and Management |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The 112th Congress may address issues related to the application and modification of ZIP Codes. This report assists members in addressing concerns about the use of ZIP Codes as well as offers an overview of the boundary review process that can lead to changes in ZIP Code assignment.
Since the ZIP Code system for identifying address locations was devised in the 1960s, some citizens have wanted to change the ZIP Codes to which their addresses have been assigned. Because ZIP Codes are often not aligned with municipal boundaries, millions of Americans have mailing addresses in neighboring jurisdictions. The result can be higher insurance rates, confusion in voter registration, misdirected property and sales tax revenues for municipalities, and changes in property values. Some communities that lack delivery post offices complain that the need to use mailing addresses of adjacent areas robs them of a community identity.
Because ZIP Codes are the cornerstone of the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS's) mail distribution system, USPS has long resisted changing them for any reason other than to improve the efficiency of delivery. Frustrated citizens frequently have turned to members of Congress for assistance in altering ZIP Code boundaries. In the 101st Congress, a House subcommittee heard testimony from members, city officials, and the General Accounting Office (GAO, now the Government Accountability Office) that USPS routinely denied local requests for adjusting ZIP Code boundaries.
Since then, USPS has developed a "ZIP Code Boundary Review Process" that promises "every reasonable effort" to consider and, if possible, accommodate municipal requests to modify the last lines of an acceptable address or modify ZIP Code boundaries. The process places responsibility on district managers, rather than local postmasters, to review requests for boundary adjustments, to evaluate costs and benefits of alternative solutions to identified problems, and to provide decisions within 60 days. If a district manager rejects the request, the process provides for an appeal to the manager of delivery at USPS headquarters, where a review based on whether or not a "reasonable accommodation" was made is to be provided within 60 days.
The boundary review process enhances the possibility of accommodating communities that desire ZIP Code changes. One accommodation that can often be made is to allow the use of more than one city name in the last line of an address, while retaining the ZIP Code number of the delivery post office. This can help with community identity problems, though not with problems such as insurance rates or tax remittances that are determined by ZIP Code.
A congressional constituent desiring a ZIP Code accommodation may not be aware of the boundary review process requirements. Any proposal for change must be submitted in writing to the district manager. The district manager is to work with the local postal managers, headquarters delivery, and headquarters Address Management System to evaluate the request and determine if an accommodation can be made.
