PFD deadline is important; so are its numbers to Wrangell

Alaskans won’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight the evening of Monday, March 31, but they could lose out on a chance to be richer.

The deadline to file for this year’s Permanent Fund dividend is 11:59 p.m. March 31. Complete the online application by then and, come the first week of October, the state will deposit the PFD into your bank account.

If online is not your thing, head to the Legislative Information Office upstairs at the Kadin Building on Front Street, above the Tongass Federal Credit Union office, pick up a paper application, get some help completing the form if needed, and then be sure to get it to the post office while the window is open on Monday to ensure it is postmarked on March 31.

Any application postmarked after the close of postal business on March 31 will suffer the same fate as that luxurious stagecoach in “Cinderella” — it will turn into a pumpkin. Though at least Cinderella could catch a ride on the pumpkin; a late PFD application won’t get you anywhere.

As important as the annual dividend is to Alaskans, it also is a good way to track each community’s population and economic growth — or shrinkage. In Wrangell’s case, it’s the latter.

Residents in Wrangell submitted 2,417 applications in 2000, according to the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division’s annual report for that year. By 2002, that number was down to 2,287, as the loss of the timber industry continued to hit the town’s economy.

The applicant count fell to 2,095 in 2005. It held pretty even at 2,087 in 2015, but then the decline resumed.

In 2022, the division paid 1,946 dividends to applicants with Wrangell addresses. In 2024, payments went to 1,868 applicants who claimed Wrangell as their permanent Alaska residence.

It’s not news that the town’s population is declining. The constant worker shortage at businesses and offices around town is proof enough, as is the weakness in sales tax revenues.

But the steady downward trend in PFD applications from the 99929 ZIP code is a reminder that community leaders — elected, appointed and volunteered — need to stay focused on two things: Attracting younger people to move to Wrangell, and offering the schools, child care options, activities and public services to keep them here.