Alaska is rolling in money from the high oil prices, with the revenue department this morning announcing a projected surplus of $3.4 billion.
The news comes as the Legislature prepares to decide how much it wants to spend on construction projects in the coming year.
Lawmakers had already planned a big construction budget but the additional money could result in even more projects added.
Legislators have also been talking about putting over $1 billion into savings in the coming year. The question will be how they divide the new projected $3.4 billion surplus between spending and savings.
Alaska already has about $10 billion in savings accounts.
Gov. Sean Parnell said this morning he wants lawmakers to spend no more on construction projects than they did last year, and to add most of the projected surplus dollars to the savings accounts.
Parnell, who has the power to veto projects, said he’ll want even less spending than that if the Legislature doesn’t pass his bill to cut oil taxes.
The projected surplus is a result of higher-than-expected oil prices.
The state last fall had projected that the price of North Slope crude would average $77.96 per barrel through the fiscal year that ends June 30 and then go up to $82.67 for the coming year.
The state today changed that to say prices should average $91.13 per barrel this fiscal year and $94.70 for the coming year.
Revenue Commissioner Bryan Butcher called it a conservative forecast. Alaska North Slope crude closed yesterday at $118.84.
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