The 2006 amount of $1,106.96, announced Sept. 20 by Gov. Frank Murkowski, is the ninth largest payout since the state started cutting checks in 1982, according to state records.

The lowest was $386.15 in 1983.

The highest, $1,963.86 in 2000, was the 10th straight increase since 1991.

After 2000, however, it was all downhill as the stock market fell hard.

But check amounts in the first half of this decade did not fall as sharply as they could have had the state not foreseen such a circumstance.

To prevent sudden changes in the dividend, each year's check amount is calculated by averaging the prior five years of earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund.

The other side of the coin is that when the fund has a good year in the stock market checks do not rise so sharply.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, October 5, 2006.