Steve Colt

A new report by Bob Loeffler and Steve Colt describes how commercial fishing, mining and tourism provide revenue to the State of Alaska – revenue that the legislature appropriates for services for Alaskans. It also describes what the state spends to manage and promote each industry.

Understanding Alaska and Alaskans is fundamental to shaping the state’s future. In 1961, Alaska’s Second State Legislature acknowledged the importance of this research mission and understood how it would inform policy and critical decisions facing the new state. This led to the creation of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER). Since then, ISER research has contributed to just about every public policy topic in the state, including the Arctic, natural resources, education, telecommunications, the Permanent Fund, fisheries, health care and – of course – Alaska’s economy.

Two of ISER’s long-time economists, Steve Colt and Gunnar Knapp, are retiring this June. Gunnar Knapp is also currently ISER’s director, and Steve Colt was the director from 2007 to 2009. ISER is honoring them with a reception on Friday, June 24, from 3 to 5, in Room 307 of the Consortium Library. Please join us in celebrating two of Alaska’s most-respected economists. Light refreshments will be provided, and parking on the UAA campus is free on Fridays.

Gunnar Knapp joined ISER in 1981, and has over time become internationally known for his research on fisheries markets and fisheries management, in Alaska and elsewhere. Much of his work has focused on the Alaska salmon industry.

Steve Colt started work at ISER in 1984, and he is now considered one of Alaska’s leading authorities on energy issues—especially rural energy—as well as in the valuation of natural resources. He was also instrumental in creating UAA's environmental studies program, and chaired that program from 1998 to 2006.

When: Friday, June 24, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: UAA/APU Consortium Library, Room 307

How do taxes and other revenues the state government collects from the commercial fishing, mining, and tourism industries compare with what the state spends to manage them? That’s the question the Alaska Division of Economic Development asked ISER researchers Bob Loeffler and Steve Colt to answer. In a new study, the researchers report their findings, but they first emphasize that their study is not a broad analysis of all the benefits and costs of these industries, which would also weigh many other factors—including the substantial income and thousands of jobs the industries generate for Alaskans. The researchers also point out that the state’s management goals for these industries include many things besides collecting taxes, and that their study does not say anything about what taxes on these industries should be.

The authors found that commercial fishing, mining, and tourism all generate combined state and local revenues in the same ballpark—averaging about $120 million to $135 million annually in recent years. All three industries pay more in combined state and local taxes than the state spends to manage them, with revenues from tourism and commercial fishing particularly important to local governments: 60% of the revenue from tourism and 40% from fishing goes to local governments. Counting only state revenues (excluding local revenues), the state spends more to manage fishing than it collects from the industry. State revenues from tourism roughly equal what the state spends for management. Mining brings in about six times more than the state spends to manage it.

Bob Loeffler is a visiting professor of public policy at ISER, funded by a grant to the University of Alaska Foundation from the Council of Alaska Producers. Steve Colt is a professor of economics at ISER. The report findings are those of the authors, not ISER, the University of Alaska Anchorage, or the research sponsors.

Download the summary (PDF, 734 KB) or the full report (PDF, 2.6 MB), Fiscal Effects of Commercial Fishing, Mining, and Tourism. If you have questions, get in touch with Bob Loeffler at bobl@uaa.alaska.edu or 907-250-4621.

Future population growth could be very expensive for residents of the Mat-Su Borough, if the cost of schools and other services increases faster than the revenues needed to pay for them. A big issue looming for the borough—and other local governments—is that state aid, which currently pays most of the bill for Alaska schools, is likely to decline as declining oil production reduces state revenues. The problem is particularly critical for the Mat-Su Borough, which is the fastest growing area in Alaska. A new analysis by Steve Colt, a professor of economics at ISER, assesses how six different land-use and population alternatives could affect the borough's finances through 2050. It focuses on the potential future costs of borough schools, because schools are by far the borough's biggest expense. The analysis was funded by The Nature Conservancy, the Bullitt Foundation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Download the analysis, Fiscal Impacts of Alternative Land-Use Scenarios for the Mat-Su Borough (PDF, 1.5MB). If you have questions, get in touch with Steve Colt at sgcolt@uaa.alaska.edu.

ISER faculty will teach a variety of courses in spring 2012, including classes on energy and environmental economics, communications policy, public land management, research methods, and culture and globalization.