Background

The West Sacramento, CA, Industrial Station is located in the California 2 District of the WestPac Area.

Metered mail is any mail class or product with postage printed (indicia) with a Postal Service approved postage meter product/system. Unused metered indicia are postage amounts (which may include fees) already imprinted onto any mailpiece, shipping label or meter strip (stamp) that was never mailed. Such meter indicia are considered for refund only if complete, legible, and valid. To obtain a refund, the customer must submit the postage meter stamp impressions or other evidence requested for refund along with required Postal Service (PS) Form 3533, Application for Refund of Fees, Products and Withdrawal of Customer Accounts. The Postal Service assesses fees to process the refunds and deducts them from the customer’s refund amount.

OIG data analytics identified the Industrial Station had $499,801 in postage affixed refunds recorded to account identification code (AIC) 526, Refund Spoiled/Unused Customer Meter Stamps. This was 86 percent of California 2 District total refunds for this period.

The objective of this audit was to determine whether meter revenue refunds were properly issued, supported, and processed at the West Sacramento, CA Industrial Station.