Registered Alaska residents are reminded to submit applications for this year’s Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) before the March 31 deadline.
Falling on a Saturday, the walk-in deadline to turn in applications at offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau will be March 30. Online applications submitted by and mailed-in applications postmarked no later than March 31 will still be considered timely.
For those unable to file at the pfd.alaska.gov website, Wrangell’s Legislative Information Office has PFD forms available outside its office, on the Kadin Building’s second floor. During weekly office hours staff there are willing to assist with filings, and can certify copies of identifying documents.
Those without all the necessary documentation in order are reminded they can always file first and provide the rest at a later date.
Alaska’s Permanent Fund was established in 1976 in order to save state mineral earnings, and in 1978 began with $54.5 million in its principal. Royalties, investment earnings and other appropriations in the years since have grown the fund substantially, valued as of last week at just over $65 billion.
Managed separately from the fund itself, the PFD is annually paid out from the fund’s earnings reserve, though the past two years have seen individual dividends capped, first by gubernatorial veto to $1,022 in 2016, then by legislative action to $1,100 in 2017. Where they will be set at for 2018 has yet to be decided, as lawmakers in Juneau wrangle over a budget for the coming fiscal year.
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