If you want to feel at least a little better about all that money you threw away playing the lottery over the last year – well, it might help you to realize that some of that lost cash will make it back to the county to help area school children.
This week, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will ask the State of North Carolina to handover $4.75 million in lottery proceeds. There is, after all, a reason why it’s called the “NC Education Lottery.”
Each year, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners and Guilford County Board of Education are required to submit an application for the distribution of the money being held in a state fund called the “Public School Building Capital Funds – NC Education Lottery.” In order for the request to be honored by the state there must be joint approval by both boards.
This year the county plans to use the money to pay down the debt from 2008 school bonds.
According to the statewide non-profit Public Schools First NC, about 63 percent of the Education Lottery proceeds of lottery money goes to paying the prizes, while 26 percent goes toward funding education across the state. About 7 percent is paid out in “commissions and retailer incentives,” while 3 percent is spent on administrative expenses and 1 percent on advertising.
This revenue is already included in Guilford County’s 2019-20 fiscal budget that was adopted two months ago, which means the county feels pretty confident the state will hand over the money.
In 2005, the NC State Lottery Act was signed into law by former NC Governor Mike Easley and, since then, the lottery has generated more than $5 billion for education across the state.
