Q: How much money do residents of Alaska make from the oil pipeline?
EDDIE WEBSTER, DOUGLASVILLE
A: The amount of the Permanent Fund Dividend was $1,600 for 2018, according to the Alaska Department of Revenue Permanent Fund Dividend Division.
The fund was established when voters passed a state constitutional amendment in 1976 to receive dividends from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. In 1982, the first dividend payments, for $1,000, were issued.
The total value of the Permanent Fund was $64.5 billion, according to a message from Alaska Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy on the state government’s website.
“Twenty-five percent of all bonuses and royalties from natural resource development are required by law to be deposited into the Permanent Fund, and from that, roughly 50% of realized earnings have historically been issued to Alaskans as dividends,” he wrote. “As oil revenues have declined, Alaskans are debating the best structure for the dividend program moving forward. I believe no change should be made without a vote of the people.”
Individuals who have lived in Alaska for the entire calendar year before the date they apply for a dividend and who “intend to remain an Alaska resident indefinitely” at the time they apply are eligible, according to the Permanent Fund Dividend Division’s website.
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