July 1 marked the start of Fiscal Year 2025 at the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
As it does each year since a 2018 law went into effect, the Permanent Fund has committed some funds to the Percent of Market Value (POMV) draw for the State’s operating budget for the following fiscal year, which is FY 2026. The FY 2025 POMV draw of $3.7 billion supports the current fiscal year’s budget.
The Earnings Reserve Account has realized earnings of $3.9 billion that are available for the FY26 POMV draw.
An annual 5% draw from the Alaska Permanent Fund’s Earnings Reserve Account provides more than 50% of total Unrestricted General Fund revenue, which funds State government operations and the Permanent Fund dividend to qualifying Alaskans. $1.4 billion is set aside for inflation proofing.
Unaudited FY 2024 financial statements that dial in the specifics will be available online at the end of July at apfc.org/report-archive.
Last July’s report showed an overall balance of $78 billion in the fund, with $67.5 billion to total principal. This year, the fund will likely show an all-fund balance of more than $80 billion, about double what it was in 2012. The fund has been riding at about $80 billion for several months.
$80 billion isn’t what it used to be. Although the fund has doubled since 2012, inflation has eaten away at the value. Between 2012 and 2022, the U.S. dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.46% per year, for producing a cumulative price increase of 27.47%. A $20 in 2012 would buy what it took $25.40 to buy in 2022. From July 2022 to July 2023, the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increased 3.2%. Therefore, the $2 billion gain in the fund, year over year, is barely keeping up with inflation.
The Permanent Fund has enough to potentially meet the 5% earnings draw for Fiscal Year 2026, but just barely. It will need solid returns in this fiscal year in order to meet demands of the State’s operating budget and annual dividend — and that doesn’t factor in what it will need in 2027.
The Alaska Permanent Fund is a unique fund established to help the state operate once oil was gone and the revenue stopped coming in from the North Slope. The fund was established by Alaska voters in a 1976 vote that added the following language to the Alaska Constitution in Article IX, Section 15:
“At least twenty-five percent of all mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sale proceeds, federal mineral revenue sharing payments and bonuses received by the State shall be placed in a permanent fund, the principal of which shall be used only for those income-producing investments specifically designated by law as eligible for permanent fund investments. All income from the permanent fund shall be deposited in the general fund unless otherwise provided by law.”
The constitutional amendment protects the fund deposits by dividing the fund into two parts: the principal (non-spendable) and the Earnings Reserve Account (spendable). The funds are commingled and invested under the same asset allocation. Like other investment funds, the Alaska Permanent Fund is subject to market fluctuations.
I am very disappointed with the earnings of the Permanent Fund. The earnings are not keeping up the the earnings of many other funds or the market in general. We currently are using the same system of management put in place 45 years ago. The management has become political with not the best people in place to manage the fund but who has the ear of the Governor for what ever reason.
We have a fairly large infrastructure managing the fund with approximately 250 people sitting in a building in Juneau playing monopoly and playing badly. It is time to fire the managers and place the fund with several Wall Street firms who have a track record of earnings/growth.
And we can’t have our full PFD why again?
Exactly the point
They cap the PFD payment and THEN announce that they have more than last year. Crooked all around.
As far as I’m concerned, the bulk of the Alaska legislature is the equivalent of horse thieves in the old American West. The PFD dividend is necessary income for some of our poorer residents, and to take it form any Alaskan is stealing.
IC yes they are no more than liars and thieves.
They have no problem stealing our money to spend on foolish stuff like 5000,000 toilets.
Some day us taxpayers are going to have enough and say no more just remember the politicians who are doing this to us.
Our corrupt politicians greedily lick their chops.
Nearly all of them deserve our contempt and should be tarred and feathered. Which frankly is still too good for them.
They ought to fear stealing our money, but they do not. I pray that changes.
I wonder what the penalty would be for illegal taxation, of men, women, and children. Remember they don’t mind stealing candy from babies
It’s worth pointing out we overthrew the British for less than Alaska does to us.
That’s why the legislature should end the pfd and implement an income tax of 28% on all wage earners: because there is yet another piggy bank left un-squandered!
That’s the plan… Take all of the PFD, throw in an income tax and a sales tax on top of that… It gets worse from there but I don’t want to spoil the surprise… Just take a look at SFO to get an idea of what the end result will be… +++
That dividend should be used for infrastructure and Alaskan projects not flat screens from Walmart.
Doug, it sounds like you need to associate with a better class of people. I know many people who use their dividend for “infrastructure and Alaska projects,” such as home repairs, clothing for their children, filling up the heating oil tank, etc. I am not aware of a single extended family member of mine who ever used it for “flat screens from Walmart.”
Do you have a flat screen, Doug? Care to spend some of your money to fix the potholes in my street?
Of course some PFD recipients are poor money managers and squander their PFDs on stupid – they are free to do so, just like you were free to spend your money on your TV. Get over it. The PFD is the people’s money, established in law, not the State’s – legislature, STOP STEALING!
Doug, I usually agree with your comments. But, this one? No. I do not agree. Wasn’t there a trade-off for us to even get a dividend? Something about underground mineral rights?
It’s just a matter of time and the politicians sticking their hands into the cookie jar before there won’t be a dividend
Record stock market values account for much of the increase. UNDER WHICH PRESIDENT DO WE ENJOY THIS WEALTH?
Stock market prices are up because they’re bought with devalued dollars The actual wealth stored in them is thus taken. Sure!! Here’s a blade of grass. Call ing it a dollar does not make it wealth!!
Clarke, the stock market responds (though weakly) to the fears and feelings of a few corporation’s shareholders. Apparently, the uptick is a result of confidence in Biden.
How do all the other states without a permanent fund meet their obligations?
If the Permanent Fund is Alaska citizens defense from taxation, then why do we allow Canadian companies like the AC Store drive the food prices in rural Alaska where the highest dependency on food stamps reside?
Why does it cost as much to fly from Nome to Anchorage as it does from Anchorage to Italy?
Instate cargo and passenger prices are set based on what the state and federal Medicaid program will bear and calculated by the number of recipients in those rural areas.
The price of fuel.
Why is Alaska the largest producer of oil and gas, yet we have minimal refineries and ports to import and export goods and services?
Why does Alaska villages have the highest fuel and food have the highest costs?
There seems to be a trade off between reducing taxation and sustainable goods and services socialism that drives the rural individual and disenfranchised families down.
Then there’s this systematic social service mechanism that dribbles the federal dollars meant for direct services through a ‘means of unity’ that costs 60% indirect rates.
Just because a local tribe signed over their rights for that ‘unified’ voice.
While the non profit leader people at the regional level are making so much money and they begin to have a conflict of interest because they advocate based on the demise and the terrible statistics of the plight of the people they serve. Then they get more money – more programs – more indirect rates – and more personal wealth.
I guarantee you this is not where these leaders started out as idealistic game changers.
We need to use the collective tools and resources (and as Alaskans – we have more than anyone else) to bring a personal wealth mindset to every Alaskan.
In the native community- we have likely more collective tools to bring personal wealth and therefore wellbeing to our indigenous people than any other indigenous population around the globe.
We have surface rights for village corporations thanks to ANCSA. This is often overlooked.
What does this mean?
ANCSA Village CORPORATIONS have private landowner power to transfer plots of land to shareholders to give them an asset – which is collateral to gain access to financing to build a home, start a small business, whatever they choose in their American Pursuit of Happiness.
The problem is the conflict of interest within our own community of who historically and what families historically are worthy.
The handing down of leadership to a caretaker is alive and well.
Paternalism exists beyond lines of geography, religion, political inclinations – paternalism is not an outsider plight that was imposed on our communities.
But what I think is that feeding a permanent fund is just continuing to feed the beast.
Alaska Native Shareholders were a requirement to enact the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act.
The people were the original purpose.
Utilizing those land holdings to lift individuals, families and communities up needs to be where we spend our time and focus.
Partnering and utilizing the resources by everyone with skin in the game would be amazing to witness.
That would be a more profound use of the Permanent Fund Dividend.
Interesting take on financing Alaska. You wrote: “ Then there’s this systematic social service mechanism that dribbles the federal dollars meant for direct services through a ‘means of unity’ that costs 60% indirect rates.”
I’m not familiar with the means of unity term. Would you explain that? Is indirect rate the same as the administrative costs that nonprofits charge to administer the grant?
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