CWA Local 4319: ODDS ARE...YOU'LL PAY MORE

Odds Are...
You'll Pay More!

By Erika D. White
August 2003

So, you think the jingle for the OHIO LOTTERY is kind of catchy, huh? Though, by now, I will assume that the odds of your having fun with the OHIO LOTTERY aren’t in your favor. This could be because you haven’t hit the big jackpot, or because all the money supposedly generated for your local school district has yet to be accounted for. Please check A, B, C, or all the above as the following history lessons unfolds.

In 1971 a campaign was begun to create a lottery in Ohio. By 1973, State Issue 1 was approved by voters, creating the Ohio Lottery Commission.
Voters in 1987 approved a constitutional amendment to permanently earmark Lottery profits for education.
Finally, in 1988, House Bill 789 was passed, creating the Lottery Profits Education Fund. The Bill allowed for clear separation of Lottery revenue from the State’s General Revenue Fund.

All this “history” getting a little boring? Well, let’s bring our lesson directly into your living room. If you live in or around Toledo, Ohio, then the failure of Issue 2 will tie in directly with this article.

Many Ohioans are under the assumption that proceeds from the Ohio Lottery significantly increase s the money available to the state’s public school districts. In fact, proceeds from the lottery make up only a small portion of Ohio’s total education money. In recent years, proceeds from the lottery have been between 12%-16% of state aid to local schools. Those are nice, even, double-digit numbers until you scroll and squint to read the fine print, which says: Since state aid, on the average, funds only about half of the “typical” school budget, the lottery pays between 6%-8% of the expense of that same “typical” Ohio school district. Hope you live in a “typical” school district, or odds are…you get less!

Ohio schools are primarily funded from property taxes with some funds coming from the Ohio Lottery. In fact, what actually happens is that the lottery fund does not add to school funding, but simply reduces the need for other funds and reform of school funding. That alone could make the commercial the Ohio Lottery Commission shows, claiming all the money given to Ohio’s schools, blatantly false. Taxpayers should actually be in those commercials, stating how much they have paid to support their local school district. Odds are…the community pays more!

With falling profits, the Ohio Lottery Commission, with the approval of Governor Taft, introduced the Mega Millions game in May 2002. Governor Taft stated that it was needed to help shrink the state budget deficit and stabilize lottery profits (which go to education). Let us recall the previous history lesson, that many Ohioans are under the assumption that…well, we all know what assuming does.

Well, here is the reality…Schools in the “typical” Ohio school district aren’t getting any additional money from the expansion of the Mega Millions game! Also, not to be forgotten, is that the Ohio Lottery is currently pushing a proposal for Video Lottery, and Ohio’s sales tax has been temporarily increased (chuckle please) to 7.25%!

I do not oppose the lottery. What I do oppose are lottery ads and a state government that misleads voters about the amount of funding actually given to our local school districts. It is deplorable that the financial distress of Ohio’s schools is being used as a means to approve more legalized gambling. One of the most dishonorable commercials shown by lottery is one that shows school children holding up numbers that the lottery has provided $11.1 billion for education since 1975. The truth is that under the laws that govern the lottery commission, state officials have developed a shell game in which gains from lottery profits for education are partially offset by reductions in other funds that are allocated for schools.

Below is a chart that gives the official breakdown of the distribution of the money raised by the Ohio Lottery Commission. All figures are in billions.

PLAYERS FIRST, SCHOOLS SECOND

More than half the money from Ohio’s lottery sales is returned to players in payouts. Less than a third goes to schools. The rest pays expenses, such as staff salaries, advertising and sellers’ commissions.

YEAR	TOTAL SALES	PAYOUT TO PLAYERS	MONEY TO SCHOOLS	LOTTERY EXPENSES
1992	$1.69	$0.89	$0.64	$0.16
1993	$1.98	$1.08	$0.66	$0.24
1994	$1.92	$1.12	$0.65	$0.15
1995	$2.19	$1.24	$0.66	$0.28
1996	$2.38	$1.36	$0.73	$0.29
1997	$2.30	$1.31	$0.75	$0.24
1998	$2.20	$1.24	$0.72	$0.24
1999	$2.14	$1.26	$0.70	$0.18

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Odds Are... You'll Pay More!

PLAYERS FIRST, SCHOOLS SECOND

Odds Are...
You'll Pay More!