Valdez permanent fund nearing $71 million

by The Associated Press

Carried along by a strong bull market in international stocks, the Permanent Fund of the city of Valdez has surged by more than $7 million. The city’s rainy day savings account now totals nearly $71 million.

Ruthann Moomy of Denver, the city’s investment adviser, told the Valdez City Council in August that investments in large capital international stocks earned a whopping 45.3 percent during the last fiscal year. Small capital funds did well, too, returning 28.4 percent, she said.

The city’s permanent fund is divided into bonds, stocks and equities.

Valdez established a permanent fund back in the 1970s when the city allowed the oil industry to use its tax-free bonding capacity to help finance the Alyeska Marine Terminal.

That netted the city about $1.35 million along with some future earnings, all of which went into the permanent fund.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the oil industry financed its debt at lower bond rates and rebated the city another $7 million in finance fees, which also was added to the fund.