Experts slightly raise Alaska oil price forecast, increase Permanent Fund dividend and budget • Alaska Beacon

New state revenue projections, including a slight increase in oil prices, will give Alaskans a slight increase in Permanent Fund dividends and give the Alaska Legislature some breathing room as lawmakers craft a new state budget. is promised.

The forecast, released Wednesday by the Alaska Department of Revenue, updates its fall forecast and predicts Alaska will collect $140 million more in revenue than previously expected for the 12 months beginning July 1. are doing.

That could help lawmakers craft the budget, which must be passed and signed into law by July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year.

It’s not just gravy, said Rep. Delena Johnson (R-Palmer), co-chair of the House Finance Committee. Gov. Mike Dunleavy said that while there is “certainly no harm” in having additional funding, he already plans to submit a request to the Legislature for additional spending.

“So before we say too much about the impact (of the new revenue forecast), we want to see what that looks like,” Johnson said.

Sen. Bert Stedman, Sitka and Johnson’s Republican counterpart on the Senate Finance Committee, said it’s important to note that the new outlook also raises expectations for the current year.

For the 12 months to June 30, the Department of Revenue expects an additional $58 million.

Under the budget law passed last year, some of that additional funding would be reserved for bonuses For this year’s Permanent Fund dividend. Stedman said he currently expects the bonus to be just over $200.

This will be paid on top of the amount that lawmakers have set for this year’s dividend.

Stedman said there was approximately $170 million in additional funding between the two fiscal years after deducting dividend bonuses.

Sen. Click Bishop (R-Fairbanks) was among the lawmakers who said he hoped some of the money would be used for maintenance projects across the state.

“There’s a lot of need out there,” he said. “This is the number of snow removals across the state, so there may still be room to help with snow removal.”

“In Western Alaska, it’s embarrassing to see black mold in schools… broken fire alarms, etc. So we’re hoping that we can put a lifeline in place to defer maintenance on K-12 schools.” said Bishop.

Oil revenues represent only about one-third of the state’s general purpose revenue, but they are highly variable from year to year and even month to month, depending on fluctuations in prices and production.

Alaska Department of Revenue uses 30 days‘ Valuable data obtained from the oil market to estimate future prices.

Annual transfers from the Alaska Permanent Fund to the Treasury are the state’s No. 1 source of revenue, accounting for more than half of its general purpose revenue, but the stability of those transfers is offset by the sheer volatility of oil, and lawmakers requires careful attention to forecasting when setting the state’s annual budget.

Last year, members of the House Finance Committee drafted a balanced budget ahead of annual revenue projections in the spring, but the document was in the red after the projections came in lower than expected.

This year, the committee is awaiting projections, amendments from the governor, and the governor’s decision on a multi-part education funding bill.

Mr Johnson said the House of Commons version of the budget should be tabled in the House of Commons by the end of this month and will be sent to the House of Lords for further consideration on April 12.