Alaska is a chang'in and when? (Anchorage: sales, layoffs, university)

[raemarti]

Hello good people of Alaska, does anyone know when the new Alaska income tax will go into effect? Have they put it in place to affect the April, 2016 tax filing? Can't imagine them getting it in place that fast. Also, have they pretty well nixed the state wide sales tax? I understand user fees and sin taxes are definitely being implemented. I understand too that Walker is not going to cut any state jobs....true? I know it's very early yet and some of these may not come to pass. It's funny with the lower price of oil that we need any of these measures('xcept'in the Rainy Day Fund).

[GnomadAK]

He did cut it do far and too fast and sent the economy into a tailspin that took decades to recover from, just in time for the next oil price crash.

[raemarti]

Darn, I wish I hadn't mentioned Sheffield. This thread will just get hi-jacked. My bad.

[AlaskaErik]

I seriously doubt any income tax will become effective before 2017, which would mean an April 2018 deadline. That's assuming one is enacted.

[RayinAK]

Taxes, and cuts, including more layoffs, are coming:
Walker proposes Alaska income tax, $1,000 dividends to plug budget gap | Local News - KTUU.com Anchorage

Keep in mind that the budget was set based on around $100.00 per barrel of oil about a year ago, but the price of oil has dropped to the low $30.00s. It means that some State workers, from teachers to everything else, have already lost their jobs, retired, and so on. The University budget should be OK the end of this fiscal year, but in my view, considering that the price of oil has dropped too far, fiscal year 2017 will be a bust for State workers of all kinds.
http://gov.alaska.gov/Walker/press-r...e.html?pr=7061

[Dakster]

What RayinAK said....

Of course, if oil were to all of a sudden jump back up it might not be that bad. Although, you cannot count on that happening.

[riceme]

I think we're going to see crude drop near $20 in the first half of '16... which would be a f'n catastrophe for our state budget.

[GnomadAK]

think of the piggy bank the state would have if there had been no PFD over the years?

Right now the numbers look terrible, even with taxes and giving up the PFD he budget isn't going to balance. And that was why the PF was created, to fund AK when the oil ran out. The pipeline was never intended to be still going after 35-40 years, even if oil jumps back up the pipelines days are numbered. So how long can the state live on the fund's earnings, and how long before the poly-ticks start draining the principal?

[riceme]

I was going to say something similar last night but deleted most of my post because it was pretty doom & gloom for Christmas day... I think that even IF oil did begin to make a recovery there are going to be major changes to the state budget because this has served as the wake up call and people can now see the writing on the wall. We can't survive on oil alone forever. Duh.

[Dakster]

The finance officer for Alaska did ask the governor if he wanted to go down a ramp or fall off a cliff...