| Lottery Officials: Some Retailers Aren't Paying Up |
| (Columbia) - In December, our state's
lottery turned five years old and over that time, they've raised
more than $4.5 billion for education. Some say that total could be even higher, if all of the retailers who sell game tickets would simply pay the commission for the tickets they've sold. Every penny the lottery raises for education depends on the retailers who sell those tickets, and the fact that they pay that money back to the Lottery Commission. The commission says, for the most part, they've collected the money from their retailers with no problems. But, over the years, there have been dozens of retailers who have not paid up. Officials say some hold back money that could have been going to schools. For a few lucky participants, there's money about to be won. For the rest, they walk away believing that, if they don't win, at least their money will go back to the state's schools. Ernie Passailaigue has been Executive Director of the State Lottery Commission since it's inception five years ago. During that time, he says his retailers have, for the most part, been good business partners. "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of our retailers are good, credible people, they remit their balances to the state of South Carolina on time," Passailaigue says. But some say the system isn't perfect, and he says not every gas station or supermarket owner who sells tickets does what they're supposed to do with that money. "There are some people who are just rascals, and they're not gonna obey the law," he said, "So that's what we deal with when we're dealing with tickets on consignment and credit." Altogether, $2 million have gone missing from lottery sales. While some of that has been recovered, and there are 66 lawsuits out for much of the rest. There is one number that stands out the most: $362,000 that belongs to our schools. Bamberg District Two Superintendent Secaida Howell has plenty of things in his district he could use the money for. He says his teachers are underpaid, and his buildings need maintenance. At Denmark-Olar Elementary, the gym is 50 years old, and hasn't had the floor re-finished since nearby Voorhees College used it decades ago. "We will do some things ourselves with some monies that we do have," he said, "We'll make the best of it, but it will not be the best for our children." While it might not be much, he knows that to have "all" of that lottery money where it should be could only help school districts like his. He's got a good idea what he would tell the people who aren't paying back. "Do what you're supposed to do. Do the right thing, and if you do the right thing, then there won't ever be any question," Howell said. Who are some of those people not paying up? We started in Bowman, where a gas station there owes $7700. There's just one problem: they've shut down. The Lottery Commission says, this has been a familiar case with many stores who owe money, and that the owners have been hard to track down. Elsewhere, we talked to two store owners who said they were robbed of thousands of dollars in tickets and that's why they're delinquent. Passailaigue certainly doesn't like that they have this problem , but he believes the deficit could be much, much worse. "Do I wish it was zero? Yes. Is it acceptable? Based on the gross sales we've generated, certainly." We should tell you, compared to other states that have the lottery, South Carolina has done fairly well in collecting money from retailers. We're told that Georgia has about twice the percentage of delinquent retailer fees than South Carolina. Of the 10 U.S. lotteries that provide information about retailer losses, South Carolina suffers the third lowest amount of loss. |