N.J. Lottery goes from zero to highest tax rate in the USA
Adding insult to injury, 11% taxes are retroactive back to Jan. 1
Local Mega Millions winner calls it Pathetic money grab , as feel-good story about workers' winning jackpot is transformed into an example of oppressive government that finds it easier to take from a few lucky winners than to stop wasteful government handouts and spending.
The limits of luck are becoming clear to Lynn Sellari, whose Cash 5 lottery ticket left her with a windfall of money in May.
Over the past few days, Se ...
Jul 2, 2009, 11:40 pm - - Lottery News forum
New Hampshire crushes lottery winners with new 10% tax
Two $1M winners rush to get prizes before taxes skyrocket
Will higher taxes have the wrong effect and reduce revenue to the state?
The day before a massive 10 percent state tax on lottery prizes went into effect in the Granite State, two winners claimed separate $1 million jackpots something never before witnessed by a 20-year veteran of the lottery.
Milford High School teacher John Kasparek, 42, of Brookline, took a lump sum cash payment of $650,000 before taxes after a NH Millionaire' ...
Jul 1, 2009, 8:11 pm - - Lottery News forum
Arkansas lottery director turns down $11,000 housing allowance
The incoming head of Arkansas' lottery, set to be one of the highest-paid lottery directors in the country, didn't take all the cash offered him.
Ernie Passailaigue's $324,000-a-year salary was just part of the deal when he was hired June 5. The Arkansas Lottery Commission chairman, Ray Thornton of Little Rock, also directed the state to pay $980 a month for a year $11,760 total for housing support for Passailaigue.
But Passailaigue turned it down. He said that during negotiations for the ...
Jun 25, 2009, 2:18 am - - Lottery News forum
Arkansas Lottery hires away S.C. director
New director is 3rd highest-paid in U.S.
The Arkansas Lottery Commission has hired Ernie Passailaigue, the director of the South Carolina lottery, to lead the formation of Arkansas' newly approved lottery program.
He will start the job July 1 and be paid a salary of $324,000. It's possible that lottery ticket sales could begin as early as October.
Passailaigue (pronounced Pass'-a-laig) is a past president of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, a lottery tra ...
Jun 18, 2009, 9:47 pm - - Lottery News forum
Study finds wealthy counties get most benefit from Indiana Lottery profits
When you play the Hoosier Lottery, the odds are against you. But if you're poor? Then, so is the system.
An Indianapolis Star review of the Hoosier Lottery has found that while lower-income players disproportionately fund the lottery, the state transfers lottery profits disproportionately to the wealthiest counties.
It's a quirk that seems to punish the very people the state counts on to fuel a revenue source that last year topped $217 million.
It's a sad state of affairs when state po ...
Jun 8, 2009, 8:36 am - - Lottery News forum
Fla. Lottery to try vending machines... again
Construction worker Anthony Carey usually gets $50 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets once a week at the convenience store where he gasses up, but he says that'll probably change when Florida reintroduces vending machines later this year in supermarkets.
The first of 1,000 machines should begin showing up in mid-August and all should all be in place by the end of November.
Instead of just getting them when I'm putting in gas, I would be able to buy them basically anywhere, Carey said wh ...
Jun 5, 2009, 8:39 am - - Lottery News forum
Ohio Lottery director under scrutiny for equipment debacle
A year ago, Ohio Lottery Director Michael A. Dolan persuaded skeptical lawmakers to buy $11.6 million worth of equipment to launch the state's new Keno game on a promise that the setup would still work after a year a premise that Dolan later admitted was false.
Now, as Dolan prepares to ask the same legislative panel to approve a $41 million contract with a company to run Keno and other lottery games for the next two years, the director's own dubious promises could return to haunt him.
On ...
Jun 1, 2009, 9:51 am - - Lottery News forum
Oregon Lottery contributions critical to athletic department
The University of Oregon athletic department likes to say it is self-sufficient. However, true self-sufficiency would mean receiving no outside help from other organizations.
The department is almost self-sufficient. It hasn't received any money from the University's general fund since 2003, so it is self-sufficient from the institution. In reality, the University and the other colleges in the state of Oregon gets a little bit of help from an unlikely source: the Oregon Lottery.
Since 1990 ...
May 27, 2009, 11:59 am - - Lottery News forum
S.C. lottery chief says Arkansas can clear $125M in first year
New commission urged to focus on hiring director
South Carolina lottery director Ernie Passailaigue estimated that the Arkansas lottery could clear roughly $125 million in net profit its first year.
Passailaigue spoke to Arkansas Lottery Commission members Thursday afternoon at a working retreat held at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute within Petit Jean State Park. Joining him to pass along expertise in helping implement successful state lotteries was Margaret DeFrancisco, director of th ...
May 15, 2009, 8:24 am - - Lottery News forum
N.J. Lottery to end live broadcast of midday drawing
Is $100,000 in cost-savings worth the loss of midday drawing broadcasts?
Beginning Friday, the New Jersey Lottery Commission will stop airing live drawings at 1 p.m. on the state's public television network in an effort to save money.
Only summaries of the results of the Pick 3 and Pick 4 lotteries will be shown on New Jersey Network at 1 p.m., the state Lottery Commission said today.
Video of the actual drawings will only be available on the commission's Web site.
The midday winning ...
May 11, 2009, 10:41 pm - - Lottery News forum
