On October 29th, 2008, Georgia Lottery officials said that sales for the 1st quarter of the fiscal year of 2009, which started on July 1st, 2008, improved from $842 million to $871 million. This may not seem like a big increase but everything else, from the state sales tax collection to the income tax revenues, have been dropping this year. Governor Sonny Perdue and legislators are looking for $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion in spending cuts to keep the state budget in the line.
Lottery sales will be alloted to the HOPE scholarship and pre-kindergarten classes. The ticket do not have any effect on the state budget. During the 1st quarter of 2009 fiscal year, the sales in instant win games, keno and cash 4 continue to improve. But the sales for big money Mega Million dropped by thirty percent, from $65.5 million in the 1st quarter of the 2008 fiscal year to $46.4 million during the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year. The Win for Life ticket sales also dropped.
But with the bigger total sales, more cash will be given to the state for the HOPE and pre-kindergarten programs. Georgia's lottery has been among the most successful in the whole country, with one bad year since the games started in 1993.
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John Sullivan
