IL Lottery paid $2.2B to winners last fiscal year. Where does the remaining money go?
The Illinois Lottery brought in more than $328.7 million in ticket sales in July alone, and state residents spent nearly $111 million on Powerball tickets during the historic November $2.04 billion jackpot run.
Even after paying operating and administrative costs, the Illinois Lottery is lucrative. Much of ticket sales goes toward funding cash prizes, but some is donated.
Illinois Lottery officials say it’s a “common misconception” the lottery was created with the intention of fully funding education in the state. That said, 25% of Illinois Lottery proceeds went to fund education and other specialty causes in fiscal year 2022, officials report.
Where do Illinois Lottery proceeds go?
According to the Illinois Lottery, state players have generated more than $24 billion in education funding since 1985. In fiscal year 2022, participants generated $834 million for the state, “most of which” funds education, according to lottery officials.
Officials estimate about 25 cents per dollar spent playing the lottery goes to schools and “other good causes.”
Here’s a breakdown of where lottery proceeds went in fiscal year 2022, according to the Illinois Lottery:
More than $2.2 billion was paid in prizes to winners
$834 million went to fund public education, capital projects and “good causes”
$175 million went to Illinois Lottery retailers for commissions and selling bonuses
$163 million went to operating costs
As of July 1, all Illinois Lottery proceeds (excluding specialty scratch ticket sales) will go to the Common School Fund, officials reported. The fund houses and earns interest on public revenue from a variety of sources earmarked for education.
“That change will mean that almost 99% of lottery proceeds will go to supplement education funding,” the Illinois Lottery website says.
Illinois Lottery finance disputes
In 2015, a state auditor general report said the Illinois Lottery violated state finance law by prepaying $20 million to participate in future multi-state lottery drawings.
According to News-Democrat reports from July 2016, Illinois Lottery officials challenged the auditor general findings, saying the $20 million “came from Lottery players, not tax receipts or the General Fund.”
At least one state lawmaker called for an investigation into the Illinois Lottery in 2016 after the audit found the organization in violation of state law.
The News-Democrat obtained email records through Freedom of Information Act requests from 2016 showing conversations between Virginia and Illinois Lottery officials two days before the budget impasse began.
