Most Alaskans to get almost $2072 each in oil money

This year’s was the highest payout in 34 years, Walker said, though the windfall only edges the 2008 amount by $3.

The payment amounts are calculated using a formula that averages the fund’s earnings over a five year period.

For years any discussion about tapping into the dividends was considered politically risky , but Alaska Governor Bill Walker, as well as economists, has said it is time to re-examine options.

“While this dividend is going to be a welcome into our economy, as it should be, it’s also at a time that our economy is … we’re borrowing funds to do what we do in this state”, Walker said.

“It’s the first time in Alaska’s history that the earnings from the Permanent Fund have exceeded the earnings from oil”. A few years later the dividend fund was established, with equal payouts set for all Alaska residents for a “share in a portion of the State minerals revenue”. The first PFD was an even $1,000.

The subject has come up during talks hosted across Alaska by the governor and state lawmakers, as have an array of other possible revenue generators.

Last year’s payout was $1,884, a sharp increase from 2013′s $900.

“The vision of the Permanent Fund was to turn a nonrenewable resource into a renewable one, and it is our job to determine how to best use and protect that gift for the benefit of all Alaskans”, he said. The fund recovered and has a current value of $51.5 billion, compared with a balance of $29.9 billion in 2009. Conversely, when the market recovers, there will be a big move in the opposite direction. Altogether, more than $21.1 billion has been distributed to Alaskans.

The largest trust fund in the U.S.

While oil prices have plunged Alaska into a crippling deficit, that did not affect the size of the payout.

“The original goal of the Permanent Fund was to save wealth for future generations of Alaskans”, said Eric Wohlforth.

Bill Walker announces how much money Alaska residents will receive in a check from the state’s savings account of Alaskan oil revenues. The most pronounced reversal has been in the past couple of years, however, with the falling price of oil.

The North Slope contains more resources than a dozen of the 100 largest oil fields in the United States and several of the 100 largest natural gas fields.

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