Casinos taking dollars from lottery

Monday, June 25, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Mary Wallace used to spend $50 to $60 week on lottery tickets. Now, the 66-year-old prefers to take bus trips to casinos in northern Michigan and spends no more than $20 on the lottery.

"I'd rather go to the casino," she said. "I have a better chance at winning."

Many others share Wallace's opinion, and that worries Michigan lottery officials.

Lottery sales for April and May were down 17 percent. If things don't improve, the Bureau of State Lottery may post its second straight annual sales decline for the first time since it was created by voters in 1972.

Ticket sales of $1.73 billion in 1999 dropped to $1.69 billion last year. Also in decline are lottery proceeds for the state School Aid Fund. In 2000, the lottery's contribution to schools dropped from $621 million to $619 million.

Lottery Commissioner Don Gilmer said the lottery is in no danger of going bust.

"We're in business," he told The Grand Rapids Press. "We're going to sell roughly $1.7 billion worth of tickets this year, but we're going to sell a few less than the previous year. Our lottery is having problems that other older lotteries are having."