Lottery news from http://www.citizen-times.com/
RALEIGH — While Powerball sales have been successful, efforts to get more lottery profits to Western North Carolina schools have not.
Earlier this year, mountain lawmakers filed legislation to change how the state allocates money for school construction. But the legislation went nowhere.
The games are expected to generate at least $400 million during their first year, with the money spent on education programs including school construction.
Sixty-five percent of school construction money goes to local school systems based on student population. The remaining 35 percent is extra money for school districts in counties with higher-than-average property tax rates.
That means 51 counties, mostly located in the eastern and central parts of the state, get extra money to build schools.
“As a citizen of Western North Carolina, I hope we get our fair share,” said Max Cogburn, a state lottery commissioner from Asheville. “I would love to see it done on a per capita student basis rather than some formula that doesn’t result in that.”
Rep. Bruce Goforth, D-Buncombe, said he plans to resurrect the issue during next year’s session if re-elected.
Legislative leaders told Goforth they wanted to keep the status quo for lottery funds for one year before reconsidering the formula, he said.
“We shouldn’t be penalized because we did a good job at maintaining our tax rates,” Goforth said.
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