Almost 110,000 Alaskans applied for the fall 2024 Permanent Fund dividend in the first eight days after the application period opened on Jan. 1.
Applications close in 11 weeks, on March 31.
Last year’s dividend was $1,312. This year’s amount will be determined as part of annual state budget deliberations, which will begin next week when legislators reconvene in Juneau. The annual dividend is paid from the state general fund, which gets most of its money from investment earnings generated by the $78 billion Alaska Permanent Fund and from oil taxes and royalties.
About 635,000 Alaskans on average each year have qualified for the payment over the past decade.
People can either file online at mypfd.alaska.gov, download an application form from the site to complete and mail in, or pick up a paper application from a rack outside the door at the Legislative Information Office on the second floor of the Kadin Building on Front Street (Tongass Federal Credit Union is on the ground floor).
Though repeat applicants generally do not have to submit any documents, first-time applicants will need to submit additional records to establish eligibility. Sarah Whittlesey-Merritt, of the legislative office in Wrangell, said she can copy certified documents, such as birth certificates or passports, and get them to the dividend office so that applicants do not need to mail their original records.
The office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; phone 907-874-3013.
The state paid the first dividend in 1982. Since then, the annual share-the-oil-wealth payment has dominated Alaska politics, with candidates often pledging larger payments than the state general fund can afford.
More than $30 billion has been paid out in dividends since the program started.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed state budget for next year would pay out an estimated $3,400 dividend, but legislators are unlikely to approve anything close to that amount which would require a substantial drawdown on the state’s savings.
To qualify for the annual payment, applicants must have been an Alaska resident for all of calendar year 2023, though temporary absences, such as for vacations, are allowable as long as they do not total more than 180 days in the year.
As part of the dividend application process, Alaskans can choose to make tax-deductible donations of a portion of the payment through Pick.Click.Give. More than 150 nonprofits are registered for the program, including three that provide services in Wrangell: KSTK CoastAlaska radio, The Salvation Army and Catholic Community Service (which operates the Senior Center).
The voluntary donation program has been around since 2008. Last year, 22,690 people donated part of their dividend through Pick.Click.Give, totaling $3.2 million in contributions — less than one half of a percent of the $881 million paid to eligible Alaskans.
Participation in the donation program has declined in recent years. The number of dividend recipients who donated some of their payment last year was the lowest since 2011.
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