Petersburg Pilot -

We Alaskans have had a free ride

To the Editor:

We Alaskans have basically had a free ride since our Permanent Fund was established in 1976 with the proceeds from the Prudhoe Bay oil lease sales. At that time, the Legislature decided to abolish the State income tax (based on a percentage of the Federal income tax), the School Tax (a once-a-year $5 payment per wage earner to help fund schools) and the Disaster Tax (a once-a-year $10 payment per wage earner to help fund disaster relief). Rather than keep these taxes, even at a very minimal rate, the whole structure was dismantled. Since then, we...