Wisconsin lottery sales hit record $547 million
MADISON—The Wisconsin Lottery says sales totaled a record $547 million in the most recent fiscal year. That’s a 9 percent increase over the previous year.
Lottery officials say the sales generated an estimated $150 million in property-tax relief.
Instant sales accounted for about $322 million in revenue, while Lotto sales made up about $225 million.
Officials say Lotto revenue was driven by two factors. The price to play Powerball went up from $1 to $2 in January, and Mega Million sales rose 29 percent because of a world-record jackpot in March worth $650 million.
Lottery players won more than $250 million in prizes during the fiscal year, which ended June 30. Lottery retailers earned more than $38 million from ticket sales.
The previous record was $519 million, set in 1995.
Aug 24, 2012 at 8 a.m.
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dorothy_toto, My decades-old IRA accounts were trashed by the dot-com bust, the 911 attacks, and the mortgage industry and car market collapses. My more recent retirement "vehicle", a 401K started in 2005 with my current employer, was trashed by the mortgage/auto collapse. After twenty years of the "miracle of compound interest", I have about 2 years worth of retirement savings. It's not clear to me that I was better off investing in the stock market instead of lottery tickets.
Aug 23, 2012 at 5:59 p.m.
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Nice to see so many people can waste so much money. Things must be looking up for people to have so much to flush down the toilet like that. Or is it the poor making themselves poorer by misspending what they do have?
Aug 23, 2012 at 4:26 p.m.
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For the record, I did NOT win the jackpot so I guess I'll be working again this week.
Aug 23, 2012 at 1:18 p.m.
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Yeah, not a fan of Neil Heinen at all.
Aug 23, 2012 at 12:02 p.m.
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I guess desperation does have a dollar value
Aug 23, 2012 at 10:20 a.m.
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WOW - that's amazing. People are trying everything they can to make money, and the lottery sounds nice, but unfortunately they would have better luck playing the stock market. Now, will we see any of that money coming back to us in the form of property tax relief?
Aug 23, 2012 at 8:33 a.m.
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Neil Heinen: "But the fact is it's a state operation that costs money to run." Duh! So does the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Why not shut that down too? If I want to voluntarily contribute to the $150 million in Wisconsin property tax relief, that's my business. I'm not sticking it in my veins or drowning my liver, increasing state law enforcement and medical expenditures. Why is it that liberal turkeys chronically complain about this voluntary self-tax, but have absolutely no qualms about jacking up mandatory taxes on people and businesses to fund their socialism?
Heinen's editorials are frequently self-administered colonoscopies.
Aug 23, 2012 at 8:05 a.m.
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Headline should read: "Record number of people tax themselves."
Aug 23, 2012 at 7:26 a.m.
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http://www.channel3000.com/news/opinion/...
Aug 23, 2012 at 7:12 a.m.
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Thanks for helping pay my property taxes!
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