Low Oil Price and Alaska Economy Thread (Fairbanks, Fox: layoffs, property taxes)

[riceme]

Yup, we're on the same page... notice I said "gasoline" and not heating fuel, haha. I'll get dinged by the guys who drive diesel rigs, no doubt. :/

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by riceme

Yup, we're on the same page... notice I said "gasoline" and not heating fuel, haha. I'll get dinged by the guys who drive diesel rigs, no doubt. :/

Maybe not, since diesel, at least around Fairbanks, is still expensive somewhere close to $3.00 per gallon.

[riceme]

Diesel has come down, it just didn't come down as fast as gasoline. I read that it's going to start coming down faster now... but who knows. I kind that, personally and I think it will stay higher. We'll see.

[keyman51]

In McG and many other off the road villages we get money from taxes of oil to help the village survive. Here this money is used to buy diesel and gasoline for pumping water and fueling vehicles. It is unlikely that gas/fuel will be much cheaper, villages will slowly die if water
will no longer be piped. Also since we are a hub, expect our neighboring villages
to disappear too. Anchorage gets 14 million from this same
fund too.

[NomadicBear]

Oil is not the future. Now would be a good time for Alaska to fine tune their plan for a future without massive oil revenues. They do have some sort of a rough draft, right?

[Dakster]

Keyman1 - IIRC, I read an article that the money you are referring to is stopping after this year. Since we don't have journalists like we used to, no one went to the villages and cities that depend on it to get their point of view and what will happen if the money stops.

NomadicBear - One would think. Good thing that the investment company (or people) Alaska has working for it have been doing well. At least according to the news. Unfortunately, I can see a bunch of new taxes coming. I don't know which ones I agree with right now. One of the ones I can see coming down the pike is sales tax. At least that one taxes consumption and it also hits tourists and visiting workers the same.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by NomadicBear

Oil is not the future. Now would be a good time for Alaska to fine tune their plan for a future without massive oil revenues. They do have some sort of a rough draft, right?

I don't think there is any other draft other than one tied to the oil and mining industries. A couple of small Alaska tour "and very small" companies in Fairbanks survive on Northern Lights tourism during the winter months, and also when the local dog sled races are taking place, but the big money on both the tourism and fishing industries is being made by out of state corporations.

[GnomadAK]

Originally Posted by NomadicBear

Oil is not the future. Now would be a good time for Alaska to fine tune their plan for a future without massive oil revenues. They do have some sort of a rough draft, right?

I have never seen any draft, rough or otherwise. Any suggestion that involves anyone giving up anything at all is met by denial and anger. How do you replace 90% of state revenues once the oil runs out?

The politicians and many of the people of Alaska are like a bunch of folks in a bar, all drinking on the same tab, all riding a fine edge between getting the most out of the evening and being the one stuck paying the bill. It probably won't end well.

[keyman51]

It has been highly reccommended that the profit sharing go down 5 percent this year, 50 percent next year, and disappear in 2017. There was a couple suggestions about using the perm. fund since that is our rainy day $ and it's definitely raining.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by keyman51

It has been highly reccommended that the profit sharing go down 5 percent this year, 50 percent next year, and disappear in 2017. There was a couple suggestions about using the perm. fund since that is our rainy day $ and it's definitely raining.

That's probably not a bad idea.