Governor Sean Parnell announced in Anchorage this morning that this year’s PFD is coming in at $1,884.
That’s more than double last year’s PFD of $900, and estimated to be the third largest PFD on record. The highest PFD payout was in 2008, at $2,069.
Angela Rodell, Commissioner of Revenue, thanked the staff and trustees at the Permanent Fund Corporation for helping the state bounce back from the ’08-’09 recession.
“They’ve done a bang-up job over the last five years in terms of recovering from the great recession and the lows of 2009 where the fund was just over $21 billion,” said Rodell. “Today, I can report that that fund is well over $51 billion…in just five years. So, it’s a fantastic job that everybody in the state has done to continue to build on the legacy for Alaskans.”
Gov. Parnell announced a few new records set by this year’s dividend, including almost 27,000 applicants choosing to donate to a nonprofit through the Pick.Click.Give program.
“This year, 26,850 applicants pledged 44, 693 contributions. That’s a new record,” said Parnell. “Over $2.8 million was pledged.”
That $2.8 million will go to more than 500 nonprofits in the state.
This year marks the thirty-third dividend, and the first check in 1982 was $1,000. Since then, $22 billion has been distributed to Alaskans in PFD checks.
There were 674,530 applicants this year, with 641,489 estimated to qualify—from just about every age.
“The oldest applicant—many of us have some ways to go—the oldest applicant was 109 years old,” said Parnell. “The youngest include 26 children who were born on December 31, 2013—just before the deadline.”
After the announcement, Parnell said he will be using his PDF to help his daughter with tuition expenses.
PFD checks will be distributed on October 2, via direct deposit into bank accounts or by mail.
