Group, governor at odds over lottery funds

Americans for Prosperity hopes to “scratch off” millions from local school bonds.

But the governor’s office said that idea is not a winner.

The limited-government group, which opposes Wake County’s $970 million bond referendum, said that lottery proceeds could be used to build schools instead.

At a press conference this morning, Americans for Prosperity state director Fran DeLuca argued that devoting all of the revenue to school construction could keep property taxes from rising as quickly.

“Simply put right now, lottery dollars would be better spent on bricks and mortar,” he said.

A representative of Gov. Mike Easley said his argument was poorly thought out.

Dan Gerlach, the governor’s senior fiscal advisor, said that the lottery money has already been set aside to hire teachers for at-risk children and reduce class sizes at elementary schools.

“You could build schools, but you’d have to lay off teachers,” he said.

It would take a vote of the state's General Assembly to change how the money from the state lottery's mix of scratch-off and numbers games and Powerball would be distributed.

When the lottery was created in 2005, lawmakers debated at length how to spend the proceeds. Under the formula, 50 percent goes to educational programs, 40 percent to construction and 10 percent to college scholarships.

At the time, some argued for all of the money to go toward construction.

Rep. Larry Brown, a Republican from Kernersville, eventually voted against the lottery bill. But during the debate, he said that the proceeds should be spent building new schools. He said that most lawmakers did not agree.

Changing the formula now “would be like pulling eye teeth when they’ve already been pulled,” he said.

Currently, Wake County receives about $9 million a year from the lottery to pay for school construction. If the law were changed, it could get as much as $18 million — enough to build one elementary school a year.