Lottery at stake in lawsuit
Sunday, April 29th, 2007
By Chris Fitzsimon
Plaintiffs say the lottery is a tax - because of the education allocation - and was passed unconstitutionally J. Andrew Curliss, Staff Writer An esoteric argument under way in the courts over the North Carolina lottery — Is a part of each ticket a tax or is the state just making a profit? — could have an effect that’s easy to understand: No more lottery.
The N.C. Court of Appeals will hear arguments in three weeks.
The case is pushed by a nonprofit legal group that sees the lottery as a tax that didn’t go through the required legislative steps for new taxes. The state says the lottery isn’t a tax but simply makes a profit on the sale of tickets, which range from $1 Powerball slips to the dozens of scratch-off games now on shelves statewide.
The plaintiffs are optimistic about the potential for a court victory that they say would likely bring a halt to the lottery.
"It seems to be an open-and-shut case," said Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, a party in the lawsuit and the Republican leader in the state House. "We’re counting on the court to end it this year."
The state Attorney General’s Office, which represents the state in the case, will not comment on pending litigation. (more…)
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