Iowa Lottery scratches out more sales

Iowa’s casinos reported increased spending and now the Iowa Lottery says spending on its products was up too. Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer says scratch tickets led the increase for the fiscal year that ended June 30th. Instant scratch ticket sales increased by more than five percent, and overall lotter sales were up about three-point-five percent with sales just over 181-million dollars. Lottery revenues were just over 48 million dollars — about the same as last year despite the increase in sales. Neubauer says the revenues stayed the same because of some one-time income the lottery recorded last year from a stock sale. She says that was four millions dollars they didn’t have this year and still held revenues the same as last year with the increase in sales. Neubauer says the scratch tickets remain popular, because the games are always changing. She says when they started the lottery, they sold one ticket at a time. Now she says they have 20 to 24 different scratch tickets on the market at any one time. Neubauer says the lingering effects of the 9-11 attacks may also be seen in lottery sales. She says the fact that people are staying close to home and doing less traveling is part of the reason for more lottery sales. The recent 261 million dollar Powerball jackpot is getting the lottery off to a good start on the new fiscal year. She says half of the money from that jackpot fell into the last fiscal year and half is recorded for this fiscal year. Powerball sales for the year were down about five-point-three percent to just over 57 million dollars. Iowa Lottery revenues are deposited in the state general fund, where they are used to pay for a variety of programs.