Buying an airline ticket just got a little bit more expensive. It’s not that airlines raised their prices or jet fuel became more expensive last week. The reason for the increase won’t show up on an airline ticket receipt.

The additional cost has been imposed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the direction of Congress. The new fees went into effect last week.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, airline safety efforts have led to reinforced cockpit doors and heightened passenger screening at commercial airports. These measures cost a lot of money and it’s appropriate to add a small fee to all airline tickets to pay for TSA’s safety measures.

But the most recent TSA-related fees go beyond safety, they are directed at deficit reduction. Over the next 10 years, the additional fees will raise about $17 billion more than the TSA expects to need to pay for its operations.

Fees on air travel are nothing new, and federal rules don’t allow airlines to break out the dozen or so fees that are included in the final cost of a ticket. An airline trade association estimates the various fees add about 20 percent to the price of a typical airline ticket.

Blame for the increased fees, which doubled from $2.50 per flight or leg of trip to $5.60 per flight, is bouncing back and forth between Congress and the Department of Homeland Security, under which TSA operates. Some reports say that Homeland Security misread the law when it lifted caps on fees in rewriting rules for TSA fees. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and others involved in the bipartisan budget agreement that modified the TSA fees insist Congress did not intend to have the caps lifted.

A TSA spokesman, when asked about the fee, said the money from the higher fees will be deposited in the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. The additional money will be used to cover TSA costs related to providing airport security, “after stipulated amounts are applied to reduction of the federal deficit.”

As Congress and the TSA spin the story to deflect blame, the flying public will pay the price. The increased fees are expected to add $10 to $15 a trip, but one TSA example of a multi-stop trip included $33.60 in TSA fees.

At a time when the flying public is objecting to luggage fees and airline charges for food, the hidden TSA fee is another unwelcome cost of air travel. And the fact that the new fees are hidden — and raised more money than the TSA requires — makes them even more objectionable.

User-fees, in this case meaning people flying on commercial airliners pay for TSA security through fees on tickets, are appropriate. But this latest fee increase goes too far by going to the general fund to cut the deficit.

These additional TSA fees also trigger grumbling from passengers who question TSA’s methods and effectiveness, while also noting that the TSA has introduced new, expensive technology, only to discard it quickly when problems arise.

With extra fee income going for deficit reduction, Congress and the TSA are using hidden fees that nickel-and-dime customers, just like the big banks that generated loud complaints to Congress a few years ago. The extra $10 or even $30 per ticket will not stop people from flying, but the dishonest way in which it was done is offensive.