The New Jersey Lottery has set a new sales record.
Officials said the agency pulled in about $2.6 billion in the last fiscal year. That’s $31.5 million more than the previous year, and marks the fourth straight year with sales over $2.5 billion.
The lottery generated $930 million for the state, about $6 million more than the previous year. That provides aid for education and state institutions.
Lottery ticket sales are the fourth-largest revenue source for the state.
The most popular game was Pick 3, which brought in $435 million, unchanged from the previous year. Powerball ticket sales were up 87 percent, rising from $71 million in fiscal year 2010 to $133 million in the last fiscal year, while Mega Millions revenue slipped from $307 million to $231 million.
(Source: WCBSTV)
One Response
Since the money came out of someone’s taxpayers, this has the same macroeconomic impact as taxes, and is a much less reliable source of income. It also opens the door for other sorts of dubious fund raising (“recreational” drugs and brothels being the ones currently coming up for discussions).