Alaska’s 2024 Permanent Fund dividend and energy relief check confirmed at $1,702

The 2024 Permanent Fund dividend and energy relief check will total $1,702, the Alaska Department of Revenue announced on Thursday.

This year’s dividend will start being paid on Oct. 3 and will continue to be disbursed in following weeks, the department said.

The Alaska Legislature appropriated over $914 million for this year’s check. Over 600,000 Alaskans have been deemed eligible to receive the payment, state revenue officials said. The 2024 dividend is almost $400 higher than the PFD paid last year.

The 2024 check is divided between a $1,403.83 Permanent Fund dividend and a one-time $298.17 energy relief check. Legislators agreed to clearly delineate which part of the payment is related to “energy relief” because that portion would likely not be subject to federal taxes.

The Legislature has not followed the formula set in statute to calculate the dividend since 2016. For the last eight years, the dividend has instead been part of annual budget negotiations.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy in December proposed a $3,500 dividend following the statutory formula that was projected to create a $1 billion deficit. The state House approved a check in April close to $2,300, which was expected to leave the state roughly $270 million in deficit.

Legislators ultimately choose to follow the Senate’s preferred 75-25 formula, where three quarters of annual earnings from the Permanent Fund go to state services, and a quarter goes to the dividend. Unanticipated oil revenue allowed the Legislature to boost the 2024 check by just under $300.