Not only has the lottery company missed projected revenue targets (each of which was used in the Illinois budget), but now it turns out they haven't even paid the fine associated with last year's missed numbers::
- For the second straight year, the company hired to turn around stagnant sales at the Illinois Lottery has fallen short of the revenue it promised to generate for the state, according to a Tribune review of the lottery's sales and expense figures for the past year.
Unofficial year-end results for the 2013 fiscal year, which ended June 30, show Northstar Lottery Group posted net revenue of $804 million, about $143 million less than promised. As a result, the company may be required to pay the state more than $40 million in penalties, according to the Tribune's analysis.
The company still owes the state $20 million in shortfall penalty payments after it missed profit goals by nearly $70 million in the 2012 fiscal year, when it became the first private company to run a state lottery in the nation.
The deadline for payment of the 2012 penalties was Wednesday, and as of close of business, the lottery had not received any of the money it is owed, Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said.
Luckily, the state can get some of the fines from a security deposit, but that's a finite source, especially after two straight years of missed projections. Looks like those who called this a "controversial bidding process" were right once again.
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