A group of 16 maintenance workers from a county government garage in New Jersey share one of three winning tickets in the $448 million Powerball lottery jackpot, their boss said on Friday.
"Yes, we have 16 county workers from the Vehicle Maintenance Department who have won the lottery," Ocean County Vehicle Maintenance Department Director Jim Pine told Reuters.
New Jersey Lottery spokeswoman Judith Drucker said on Friday the owners of the two winning tickets sold in New Jersey, including the Ocean County group, have not come forward. The third winner was in Minnesota, where he held a press conference on Thursday.
Pine said the winners would go public next week, although they have not yet decided when they will validate their ticket.
"They are the most outstanding, dedicated group of people, and you'll be so pleased to meet them next week," Pine said. He added that all 16 have come to work since winning the Powerball drawing on Wednesday evening.
Winning tickets were sold at an Acme Markets store in the Jersey shore town of Little Egg Harbor and at a Super Stop & Shop supermarket in South Brunswick, said Judith Drucker, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Lottery.
The only confirmed winner is Minnesota engineer Paul White, 45, who was introduced on Thursday. He said he was so excited about winning he ran around the office of the Minneapolis contracting firm where he works.
White, a divorced father of a 16-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter, savored his win at a news conference at lottery headquarters by recalling when he first realized he hit it big.
"It's crazy, I've got to tell you," White said of the moment on Thursday morning at Elliott Contracting in Minneapolis, where he works as a project engineer.
He jumped up and ran around the office, and asked several people to look at the ticket to verify thePowerball number of 32 and numbers 5-25-30-58-59.
He then went to the Minnesota Lottery office, where he chose to take a cash payment of $86 million, or $58.3 million after taxes, from his $149 million share of the total jackpot.
"I have been waiting for this moment all my life," White said, after being asked why he came forward so quickly.
White said he had imagined winning the lottery "so many times in my head." He was joined by Kim VanReese, 45, his partner of about 4-1/2 years; Ron Bowen, his boss; and Bowen's wife, Nancy Bowen, who works at the firm.
"He started the day my boss. He's going to end the day my chauffeur," White joked.
White, who said he had been looking at a used Acura NSX sports car before the jackpot, said he would not leave his employer in a lurch but added: "I don't want to work for anybody else for the rest of my life, I mean for a paycheck."
The odds of winning the jackpot were about one in 175 million.
Asked if he was disappointed that he was splitting the jackpot three ways, White joked, "I think I can get by on it. We will see."
The largest jackpot in history stands at $656 million, won in the Mega Millions lottery in March 2012. That prize was split among winners in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois.
The biggest single-winner Powerball jackpot, of $590.5 million, was claimed in June by an 84-year-old Florida woman who opted for a lump-sum payment of nearly $371 million rather than the 30-year option.
Powerball tickets are sold in 43 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Five states — Kansas, Maryland, Delaware, North Dakota and Ohio — allow the winners to remain anonymous, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.
That's a large pool of people. I wonder how much they will end up each taking home. Congrats to them on their win tho!
Just a rough calculation, but I guess each Is going to clear about 4.6 mils.
more than enough for me.
I like this, people who get their hands dirty making a living,
ya know, like me LOL
Congratulations to the "Ocean 16"
Then after the 3 taxes, if the 16 people have even shares, their 'NET cash option income' would be apx. $2.93M each.
Enough for a small family to retire and live comfortably (have to remain living remainder life together in 1 house though) off their annual $100K (-25% investment's tax) investment's interest. Or, enough for a solo person to retire and live semi-extravagant life on same annual $100K investment's pre-taxed interest.
Me too
My 4.6 figure already had the the federal 39% and the Jersey 10.8 % worked in,
not sure what you meant by "3 taxes"
did I miss something ?
$86 million cash / 16 = $5.375 million
$5.375 million * .72 (25% federal and 3% NJ withholding) = $3.87 million
That's what their checks should be, but their final tax bill may be higher. NJ taxes lottery winnings at 10.8%, so the maximum federal rate of 39.6% means their net could be closer to 50%, which is about $2.7 million.
You seem to have forgotten that virtually nobody takes the annuity. The cash value of each ticket is a hair over $86 milin before taxes, so split 16 ways they start from about $5.375 million.
Oh, OK , my calculations are wrong then as I did'nt use the cash value for my basis,
yes 2.7 Is much closer to the clear.
Thanks
No wonder everyone still went to work, not enough to retire w/out thinking It over unless you're already close to It,
most of the winners look to young for that.
Oh I get It now, the 3rd tax is the $ you lose when you take the cash value !
After taxes are taken out (the new higher Obama taxes along with the new 10 percent tax in NJ), they will only clear about 2.7 million. Still not bad, but certainly that Minnesota guy is much better off.
Where does the 10% NJ tax come from? Their tax is 3% says USA Mega...
NJ instituted a 10% tax on lottery winnings that they applied retroactively to those Chubb jackpot winners.
Did'nt think about the bama taxes, my error was that I did'nt use the cash value as my basis.
The Jersey tax Is 10.8 % and has been In effect for at least 4 years, most don't know about It B/C the law was passed In the middle of the night.
The lawmakers In Jersey don't have a "SET" but they are greedy.
If you look at JP analysis on USA mega you see 3% for Jersey, but that Is only the w/holding.
Congrats to all the winners spend wisely
Thanks, nearly forgot that, that was the proof of Jersey's greed,
the retro $ grab.
And It's 10.8 % they probabaly wanted 11% but wanted to avoid appearing greedy so settled for 10.8%
just like a retailer that price's everything at something 99
It comes from greedy pols that run this state, they passed the law In the middle of the night,
the complicit liberal press failed to mention It.
I did'nt know about til I learned It on this site.
As for USA mega that's just w/holding.
All said and done It's 10.8 %
A win is a win and congrats to all of these hard working people.
* Still not inclined to join a pool no matter what.
State income tax counts as pre-tax deduction when calculating federal tax. So you figure out state amount first (10.8%) then subtract that amount from your prize for the balance use to calculate the up to 39.6% rate you'll pay on that ( the brackets before 39.6% are marginal really given the amount). It's also technically 258.2/3/16
Congrats to the 16 workers on winning the lotto. Have fun spending the money.-weshar75
if what you say is true Haymaker- you ought to follow this advice from the Powerball Jackpot analysis.
"... If you are aware of a percentage being out of date, please contact us to let us know, and we will update it. Please only contact us about lottery withholding rates, not the state income tax or sales tax rate. See Note #3 for more information.
Incidentally, if they choose annuity, each one of they would get the following payment before taxes.
Year % of Prize Annuity b4 Taxes
1 1.78% 166,562
2 1.85% 173,223
3 1.93% 180,154
4 2.01% 187,356
5 2.09% 194,858
6 2.17% 202,649
7 2.26% 210,757
8 2.35% 219,184
9 2.44% 227,955
10 2.54% 237,073
11 2.64% 246,555
12 2.74% 256,419
13 2.85% 266,677
14 2.97% 277,335
15 3.09% 288,433
16 3.21% 299,970
17 3.34% 311,965
18 3.47% 324,445
19 3.61% 337,430
20 3.76% 350,920
21 3.91% 364,960
22 4.06% 379,561
23 4.23% 394,741
24 4.39% 410,529
25 4.57% 426,952
26 4.75% 444,028
27 4.94% 461,787
28 5.14% 480,264
29 5.35% 499,471
30 5.56% 519,453
100.00% 9,341,667
Umm. Ladies and Gents:
Don’t forget about the 3.8% Unearned Income Medicare Tax (UIMT) that went into effect 1/1/13. UIMT is part of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010.
The tax brackets for UIMT are as follows:
Single filers: $200K
Married filing jointly: $250K
Married filing separately: $125K
For example: If you file as a single taxpayer and your annual income is $150K with no investment income, you won’t be taxed b/c you fall below the bracket threshold for single taxpayers.
However, if you file single and your annual income is $250K plus you have $50K in investment income, you pay the 3.8% UIMT on $100K (or $250K + $50K - $200K = $100K). This tax also applies to trusts and estates, and it’s in addition to the federal and state income tax liabilities.
Consult your tax attorney/accountant for specifics about your situation.
> if you file single and your annual income is $250K plus you have $50K in investment income, you pay the 3.8% UIMT on $100K (or $250K + $50K - $200K = $100K).
I don't understand.
Shouldn't UIMT apply only on the 50K investment since only 50K investment income is unearned - the other 250K income is EARNED?
In other words, why should 250K income is included in the bracket if it is earned?
Congrats to the winners... No matter what the taxes end up being you are richer than me! Congrats!!!!
Despite the lottery being unearned, it is taxed as ordinary/other income and doesn't fall under the definition of unearned income under the new Medicare tax. so no 3.8%
When will PB start putting "pool play" on their play slips?
This 3.8% UIMT was simply another poor naming choice that occurred 3 years ago. Regardless, a multi-hundred-thousands+ lottery jackpot winner still gets to pay it ... in addition to their County, State, and Federal Income Taxes.
Regarding the New Jersey State's Total Maximum 10.8% tax that used to appear in USAmega, now New Jersey only reads as 3%. So, which additional states show us only the State's lower "initial withholding" and not what the total/actual State's Maximum Tax will be? Now I'm wondering if Illinois is also showing a lower number than actual maximum possible?
http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/washington-national-tax/newsletters/private-company-services-tax/assets/pwc-understanding-net-investment-income-tax.pdf
Here's a document explaining the 3.8% tax.
You can also look at the law yourself. It doesn't list gambling winnings.
Now the question is, how many people that did not win are going to stake a claim to a share of the jackpot.
I was wondering also if there were other workers that refused to play. We have a few buttheads that never join our lotto pool.
On one hand, it is nice that people in this NJ garage lottery pool impacted by Hurricane Sandy won, but on another hand, one of the group members mentioned they only play when the jackpot gets big and that really sucks! That is why I want to be the sole winner of a mondo humongous jackpot so I can say I have played lottery as soon as I was of legal age and do so even when I travel (subscription, advance plays, calls to relative in another state, etc.). Or I could just aim to piss people off, and lie and say that was the first lottery ticket I ever purchased!
One lady (63) said she will keep working to get her pension. I would do the same.