Lottery projections lower, but still growing

At state budget hearings today, Tennessee Lottery officials said they expect to take in more money than last year, but still less than originally projected.

Lottery officials say they expect 3.5 million more dollars in proceeds for education next year. That’s about half the growth they had originally projected.

Still, lottery President Rebecca Hargrove calls the growth “good news,” given the economy. But she says it’s hard to know if lotteries will continue to hold up, because there’s no real precedent in their 44 years of existence.

“So from 1964 through this year, you hadn’t seen the general economic climate impact lottery ticket sales, although you are beginning to see that in some jurisdictions.”

Hargrove says last year Tennessee’s distribution of proceeds grew 1.2 million dollars more than the industry average.