From the Permanent Fund Dividend site:
Prior Year Dividends in eligible status by close of business September 10, 2010 will be direct deposited and mailed September 16, 2010. [Update 10am - Anon 8:40am points out this says "prior year". I'm not sure why prior year checks would wait until now, I don't have time to check now.]
2010 Dividends and Prior Year applications in eligible status by September 24, 2010 will be direct deposited and mailed October 7, 2010.
As I write this I can't find anything that tells us how much this year's dividend will be. But the timing of the amount announcement varies. [UPDATE Sept. 16: Governor's office says the announcement will be Tuesday, Sept. 21.]
The last three check amount announcements were:
- September 19, 2007 ($1654)
- September 5, 2008 ($2069 + $1200)
- September 23, 2009. ($1305)
But if some are going to be mailed out on September 16 this year, they are going to have to know the amount pretty quick.
A July 31 ADN article predicted it would be pretty close to last year's $1,305 - between $1,250 and $1,320.
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation website (different from the PFD site) explains how the amount is calculated:
Each year, the dividend distribution is calculated using a formula set in state law. The formula is based on an average of the Fund’s income over five years in order to produce a more stable flow of dividend amounts from year to year.
How the PFD amount is calculated
Once the dividend amount has been calculated, the next step is to determine if enough income is available in the earnings reserve account to pay the dividend. While the full amount of the earnings reserve account is available for appropriation, the principal is not. It is possible that, in a given year, the calculation may produce a dividend although the funds may not be available to pay it.
- Add Fund Statutory Net Income from the current plus the previous four fiscal years.
- Multiply by 21%
- Divide by 2
- Subtract prior year obligations, expenses and PFD program operations
- Divide by the number of eligible applicants
The PF Dividend site has a link to a PDF file that shows the actual calculation for the 2009 check. I noticed that while
the PF Corporation site says: "Divide by the number of eligible applicants,"
the PF Dividend site says:"Divide by the estimated number of eligible dividend applicants"
Since they have two different 'eligible status' dates, and the first batch of checks goes out before the second 'eligible status' date, I guess they would have to use an estimate.
As a resident of Ohio, which sends more money to the federal govt than it receives back in federal funding, I am interested to know why Alaska sits on a fund with $35 Billion in assets, pays its citizens a 3 figure dividend from that fund every year, even when the fund has negative earnings in the prior year, yet gets more than double in federal funding what it sends as tax revenue. Why doesn't Alaska use that $35 B to build infrastructure, improve schools, and provide basic services to the villages? Do Alaskans pay federal tax on their permanent fund dividend? I actually find it rather distasteful to learn Alaska is taking federal funding while divvying up $8M among its residents.
ReplyDeleteIf I read that properly, PRIOR YEAR dividends will be sent September 16.
ReplyDelete2010 Dividends will be out starting October 7. Similar timing to previous years.
I think you misunderstood. That early mailing date is for dividends from previous years where checks are being re-issued because they were returned because they weren't deliverable or where dividends are being paid for recipients whose dividend applications were held up for some reason.
ReplyDeleteThe payment date for 2010 dividends is October 7, when the direct deposits will be made and when the first batch of checks will be mailed.
Harpboy, that's what Anon2 said and I added something to the post to reflect that.
ReplyDeleteAnon from Ohio, answering your questions could take up a few whole posts. But just briefly,
1. The US Government owns 60% of the land in Alaska. So a lot of money that comes to Alaska is related to managing your land here in Alaska. This includes a mountain officially named after a favorite son from your state and which your Congress members refuse to allow to be changed back to the name given by the original Alaskans.
2. Alaska has a large military presence and a lot of the federal money goes to that.
3. Alaska only became a state in 1959. Ohio has had over 200 years of statehood and federal help to develop necessary infrastructure. We have lots of catching up to do.
Do we deserve all the money we get from the feds? I'm not sure, but there are unique and justifiable reasons why Alaska gets so much federal money.
Why shouldn't we use the permanent fund now? That's a reasonable question. It was set up on the grounds that the oil was not a renewable resource and that one generation of Alaskans shouldn't squander the wealth and leave nothing for future generations. The idea is that when the oil money runs out, there is a fund that has been saved, which the state can tap to help pay for government. I would call that prudent management.
However, many Alaskans have taken the dividend so for granted, that they would oppose allowing the fund to be tapped to run the government. But as oil revenue runs out, the dividends of the fund should be able to pay for a good portion of our expenses. It's like a trust fund for the state.
Don't get me wrong. You're asking legitimate questions, but I'm guessing, Anon in Ohio, if you lived here you would be collecting your annual check and not want to dip into the principal.