Colorado Lottery posts second-best year on record

DENVER – Despite a decline in overall ticket sales, the Colorado Lottery posted its second-best performance ever, with $493.4 million in sales for the year ended June 30. The Lottery returned $119.6 million to the state, the third-best year for proceeds.

“I think we’ve weathered the storm well,´ said Colorado Lottery Director Jack Boehm in a statement releasing the financials. “We didn’t expect to register gains in this economic climate, but we worked hard to fulfill our mission of maximizing revenue for our proceeds partners.”

Sales of Lottery tickets declined 2.5 percent during the year, but Jackpot games outpaced Scratch and Powerball tickets. Scratch tickets and Powerball tickets declined 2.3 percent and 8 percent, respectively, while Lotto sales jumped to $43.5 million from $41.1 million in 2008, and Cash 5 reached a record of nearly $21 million compared to $19.1 million the year before.

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The Lotto jackpot hit a high for the year of $11 million in October 2008. In total, the Lottery paid out $296.5 million in prizes.

Lottery proceeds partners received contributions of:

• Great Outdoors Colorado: $54.3 million
• Conservation Trust Fund: $47.8 million
• Colorado State Parks: $11.9 million

The Lottery also returned $5.5 million to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund.