This year’s Permanent Fund dividend of $1,000 will start going into Alaskans’ bank accounts on Oct. 2 if they filed their applications online and requested direct deposit and were approved as of Sept. 18.

The next batch of direct deposits will go out starting Oct. 23 for applicants who were approved by Oct. 13.

That Oct. 23 distribution date also includes people who applied for the dividend on paper forms or requested paper checks.

The Alaska Legislature set the amount of this year’s PFD in the state’s annual operating budget bill earlier this year.

Paying a $1,000 dividend to all recipients is expected to cost $685 million, making it one of the largest single expenses in Alaska’s state budget. Only the Alaska Department of Education ($1.4 billion) and the Alaska Department of Health ($1.1 billion) are more expensive.

The Alaska Permanent Fund, an $83 billion state oil-wealth trust fund, is the largest source of general-purpose revenue for state services. Earnings transferred from the fund cover 50% to 60% of state spending, which includes the PFD. Oil revenue, by comparison, supplies only about a third of state revenue.

Since 1982, a portion of the fund’s earnings has been paid out to Alaskans in an annual dividend. The payment was set by formula until 2016, when lawmakers — facing severe budget shortfalls — began setting it as part of budget deliberations.