This year’s PFD is $900

Video screen capture of Sept. 18, 2013 announcement in Anchorage by Acting Department of Revenue Commissioner Angela Rodell of the amount of the 2013 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend.

The Alaska Permanent Fund dividend for 2013 is an even number.

“And the amount this year is $900,” Acting Department of Revenue Commissioner Angela Rodell announced on Wednesday morning to applause at the state’s Dividend Division offices in Anchorage.

Rodell said they received 670,865 applications from Alaskans for this year’s share of the oil wealth savings account. But only 640,436 Alaskans qualified for a dividend.

There were 7,000 fewer applications this year. Rodell says that could be due to a number of factors such as fewer people interested in the lower dividends and more of a crackdown on dividend fraud.

Last year’s dividend was $878, the lowest since 2005.

Those relatively low dividend amounts may be a thing of the past unless there’s another recession or the equity markets tank hard this year.

I believe the dividend will just continue to get better. The markets have performed well and the Permanent Fund balance has continued to grow. It was $40 billion a year ago. It’s $45 billion this year.”

Rodell notes that formula for calculating dividends is based on five years of returns for the Alaska Permanent Fund. 2009, which was in the middle of the recession and a losing year for the Permanent Fund, will fall out of the calculation for next year’s dividend.

As for the round number this year, Dividend Division Director Dan DeBartolo said it’s just coincidence.

It just happens to be an anomaly this year. It just rounded out to $900 this year once we get down to the bottom number. I know when I first looked at it, I’m like ‘Wow’. I think that’s probably the most even dividend we ever had. So, it just happened to be what it was.

October 3rd is the day for direct deposit of 507,000 PFDs and when 86,000 paper checks starting to go out in the mail.

Wednesday’s announcement included a little trivia. Rodell said that the oldest dividend recipient is 108 years old and the youngest was born a minute before midnight last New Year’s Eve.

If you’ve been an Alaska resident and received dividends since the program’s inception in 1982, then you’ve received a total of $36,343 in PFDs.

And finally, $2,445,450 dollars was set aside this year for 400 charities and non-profits by 41,831 Alaskans as part of the Pick. Click. Give. program.

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