Residents Get $310 Less in Yearly Oil Dividend

Practically every man, woman and child in Alaska will get a check for $1,540.76 next month as their share of the state's oil wealth--a drop of $310 from last year.

The dividend checks are distributed every year from an oil royalty account called the Alaska Permanent Fund, created in 1976 after oil was discovered on the North Slope.

Anyone who has lived in Alaska for over a year gets the dividend.

This year's amount was down from 2001 because of the weak stock market and declining oil reserves, and officials warn that the dividend will continue to dwindle in years to come.