The Final Call

Lottery purchases higher in poorer Ark. counties

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The amount in fiscal year 2011 was $391.72 per person in Nevada County, higher than the state per capita figure of $159.38, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. In Arkansas County, the amount was $347.84. It was $331.13 in Dallas County.

The per capita income in Nevada County for 2009 was $27,835 and Dallas County's was $31,369—both below the statewide average of $32,315. But the per capita income in Arkansas County was the third-highest in the state.

When asked whether lottery officials know why Nevada, Arkansas and Dallas counties have such high per-capita lottery ticket sales, Arkansas Lottery spokeswoman Julie Baldridge said, “No.”

Several lottery retailers in Nevada County were surprised to learn that their county had the highest per-capita figure among Arkansas' 75 counties in a tally by the newspaper, but Prescott Mayor Terry Oliver, a former convenience-store owner, was not.

“Eight of every 10 times you can go in (a ticket-selling store) somebody is buying in front of you or behind you,” he said. “They buy them and buy some more. You hope it doesn't affect their budgets so they can't pay their light bills.”

Mr. Oliver said the answer could be the sputtering economy. “We lost a Potlatch mill here three or four years ago,” he said.

The unemployment rate in Nevada County was 10.6 percent in June, higher than the state's 8.1 percent rate. Arkansas County had the state's highest unemployment rate, 17.9 percent, and Dallas County's was 12 percent.

According to the newspaper, lottery records show G&B Liquor near Stuttgart in Arkansas County sold the most tickets of any retailer last fiscal year, $2.1 million. That's about $113 for each resident of the county.

The store is located along a thoroughfare through Stuttgart and has heavy traffic from rice mills and from farmers.

“I don't know why we do so good,” G&B owner Paul Le said Aug. 12.

But, he said, he doesn't believe the county's unemployment rate helped his store lead the state in sales. Most of his ticket buyers have jobs, he said.

About 70 percent of sales were in Prescott at five retailers within several blocks of one another. About 23 percent were at three truck stops along Interstate 30 where, the retailers said, many of the customers are out-of-state truckers.

“We are a town between Hot Springs and Shreveport, so we do have a lot of people who like to try to hit that dream ticket,” Mr. Oliver said.

Mr. Oliver also believes much of the lottery ticket market is low-income and Black.

Nevada County's population of 8,997 is 65.9 percent White and 30.7 percent Black, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The state's population of 2.9 million is 77 percent White, 15.4 percent Black and 6.4 percent Hispanic, the census indicated.

A study financed by lottery vendor Intralot and presented to the state Lottery Commission in March found that 75 percent of the lottery's players are Whites, who account for 62 percent of the spending, and 22 percent are Blacks, who account for 32 percent.

In some other counties, per-capita spending for lottery tickets is low: Montgomery County at $37.67, Benton County at $51.71, and Fulton County at $61.16. Statistics show Montgomery County's unemployment rate in June was 7.8 percent, Benton County's was 6.7 percent and Fulton County's was 7.8 percent.

Ms. Baldridge also said, “No,” when asked if she knew why Montgomery, Benton and Fulton counties rank so low. But state Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, whose district includes part of Montgomery County, believes a dearth of ticket sellers and the lack of concentrated trading areas in the county have something to do with it.

“Even those who live in Mount Ida have a very limited number of options when shopping and do a majority of their shopping outside of the county,” Mr. Bell said. (AP)