Lottery board ups goals
Profit expectations for Tennessee's new lottery director Rebecca Paul increased Tuesday by roughly $6 million following a vote by the state's lottery board.The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TELC) board, due to Paul's starting one week earlier than planned, increased the amount of net proceeds the lottery must garner if Paul is to receive the whole of her $400,000 incentive package. A former goal described by Paul as Herculean -- of $122 million by June 30, the end of the fiscal year ...
Sep 24, 2003, 4:05 am - - Lottery News forum
Mass. Lottery limits track's winning ticket payouts
The Massachusetts lottery will no longer allow the Raynham Park dog track to cash big ticket prizes after a state audit raised concerns that some people use the service to avoid paying taxes.Raynham Park is the only one of 7,300 sales agents that can cash ticket prizes of more than $600. Under the contract, it can cash ticket prizes up to $25,000.But the lottery notified track officials on Tuesday that they will have to comply with the $600 limit, effective in three weeks.Last year, 12 people ma ...
Sep 24, 2003, 3:40 am - - Lottery News forum
Public backs HOPE limits
Georgians' support for new restrictions on lottery-funded HOPE scholarships are stronger than previously thought, according to polling results presented to a state commission Thursday.The Peach State Poll, conducted by University of Georgia researchers, found significant public support for limiting the scholarships to four years and a flat $3,000 a year. I think it's a pretty discerning public, said state Rep. Louise McBee, D-Athens, a commission co-chairwoman.The panel - made up of lawmakers, ...
Sep 19, 2003, 10:07 am - - Lottery News forum
Add-on games stem UK Lottery sales decline
UK National Lottery sales have stabilized even though the main Lotto draw suffered yet another fall, operator Camelot says.Latest figures show sales across all Lottery games averaged 85 million a week, matching the previous quarter.But they are still a long way down from a peak of around 100 million a week towards the end of the 1990s.Lotto, the main draw, sold around a million fewer tickets a week in April to June this year than in the previous three months - from an average 61 million a wee ...
Sep 16, 2003, 3:52 am - - Lottery News forum
Missouri Lottery outperforms every other state
The Missouri Lottery is the fastest-growing game in the United States, according to an annual survey by International Gaming Wagering Business.The Missouri Lottery posted 21.3 percent growth in the 2003 fiscal year that just ended on top of 15 percent growth the previous year, outperforming every other lottery, the trade publication said in its September issue. It is very difficult to string together two outstanding years in the current environment, so Missouri's accomplishment is all the mo ...
Sep 16, 2003, 3:38 am - - Lottery News forum
Mega Millions Lottery Disappoints, Officials Say
The whole point of the Mega Millions lottery was huge jackpots, headline jackpots, crowds-mobbing-the-gas-stations jackpots.But more than a year after the multi-state Mega Millions lottery was created, the top prizes haven't been the record-breakers organizers had hoped -- leaving the 10 member states still waiting for a lottery windfall to cushion falling tax revenues.You might call it a case of bad luck. The lottery grew out of the seven-state Big Game, which set an American record for a singl ...
Sep 15, 2003, 3:59 am - - Lottery News forum
Florida Lawmaker: Large unclaimed lotto prizes should go to education
Instead of using an unclaimed $50 million Lotto jackpot to try to get more people to gamble, the state should have been able to spend the money on schools, a state lawmaker said Friday.Rep. Charlie Justice said he plans to file a bill that would allow large unclaimed prizes -- like the $50 million that a ticket holder failed to claim this week before a 180-day deadline passed -- to be used for education.Right now, all unclaimed money returns to the Lottery, which has to use it for promotions. Th ...
Sep 12, 2003, 9:58 pm - - Lottery News forum
Minn. Lottery cuts staff, advertising, promotions despite record sales
The Minnesota Lottery will lay off 34 employees, nearly one-fifth of its workforce of 191, next month to meet state-imposed budget cuts. But the state-run gambling operation still projects a near-record year for sales because of changes in its popular multimillion-dollar Powerball game.Most of the job cuts will come from the lottery's marketing staff, including 16 positions in field offices in Eagan, Brainerd, Detroit Lakes, Marshall, Owatonna and Virginia, assistant director Geno Fragnito said ...
Sep 12, 2003, 9:46 pm - - Lottery News forum
Bredesen defends state lottery CEO's annual pay package
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said Thursday that Rebecca Paul's potential $752,000 annual salary package involves a much more businesslike arrangement than a similar amount paid to former University of Tennessee President John Shumaker. I don't think that's legitimate at all, said the governor when asked at a brief news conference if it was fair to compare the two pay packages. I think there's much more accountability in this process, Bredesen said. For example, Rebecca Paul has a job now th ...
Sep 12, 2003, 3:32 am - - Lottery News forum
Treasurer eyes tax-evading Lottery winners
Massachusetts State Treasurer Tim Cahill plans to tighten Lottery regulations following an audit report issued Wednesday that shows winners often employ suspicious ticket cashing methods to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes.''As a result, millions of dollars in taxes were evaded, lost and not reported that could have been used for much-needed state and municipal programs,'' state Auditor Joseph DeNucci said in his report.DeNucci conducted the ''transition audit'' at the request of Cahill ...
Sep 11, 2003, 4:27 am - - Lottery News forum
