DATE: Friday, May 16, 1997                  TAG: 9705150012

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Opinion 

SOURCE: BY THOMAS W. MOSS Jr. 

                                            LENGTH:   55 lines

DEEP-SIXING THE LOTTERY WOULD BE AN EXPENSIVE MISTAKE FOR VIRGINIANS

Some of the candidates for attorney general suggest they would like to ``scrap'' the Virginia Lottery. Several news reports have focused simply on the $332 million lottery revenues that would be lost to the general fund. Revenue lost is but one aspect of the economic consequences that would result from dumping the Virginia Lottery.

In fiscal 1996, ticket sales for the Virginia Lottery totaled $924 million. The generation of this large amount of revenue impacted every locality in Virginia. Out of the $924 million:

$489 million was won in prizes by lottery players. The majority of these winners used their prize money in our state to purchase appliances, cars, houses and other big-ticket items in their own communities.

$3.2 million was collected by the Virginia Lottery for state income taxes. Winners of prizes $5,000 and greater (these prizes totaled $80 million in FY 96) have 4 percent of state tax automatically deducted. This figure does not include the additional state taxes that large prize winners pay to the commonwealth.

$49.1 million was earned by our 5,800 retail partners. Lottery retailers tell us that they use lottery earnings to remodel their stores, hire additional employees and purchase goods and services in their communities. Retailers also find that selling lottery tickets gives them a competitive edge; lottery sales increase traffic in their stores and thus sales of other items.

$332.6 million was generated for the general fund, and designated for public education, grades Kindergarten-12.

$64 million was spent to operate the lottery. This money was spent for rents, supplies, and employment of Virginians to operate seven regional offices across the commonwealth, as well as a headquarters office in Richmond; salaries for the lottery's 292 employees; millions of dollars in contracts for goods and services, including nearly $20 million that went to minority, female-owned and small businesses in the Commonwealth.

$9.2 million was collected for Virginia's Literary Fund from unclaimed prizes. Lottery fund revenue is used to make low-interest loans to localities for school construction, for teacher retirements and for computers in classrooms.

The financial repercussions that would follow doing away with the lottery reach far beyond the $332 million going to the general fund. Each dollar of the $924 million in sales has an economic impact on Virginia.

When citizens of Virginia decided in 1987 that they wanted a lottery in Virginia, the lottery law clearly stated that the lottery's mission would be to produce revenue to be used for public purposes while operating with highest integrity. The Virginia Lottery - which has not only met, but has surpassed its revenue goals each year - has lived up to that mandate. MEMO: Mr. Moss, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, represents

the 88th District, which is in Norfolk.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu