CT lotto share hits record $285.5M jackpot

The Connecticut Lottery Corp. returned $285.5 million to the state's general fund in the fiscal year just ended, a record in the quasi-public agency's 38-year history.

The lottery's revenue contribution has hovered between $270 million to $285 million for the past nine years.

But the total for fiscal 2009-2010, which ended June 30, surpassed the previous record set in fiscal 2006 of $284.9 million, the agency said Wednesday.

The exact payout to the state varies from year to year, depending upon total prizes awarded, agent commissions and the lottery's own take, but the state payout usually comes in at 30 percent of the lotto's sales.

In the last fiscal year, the agency said total sales were $996 million -- $5 million more than the previous year. The lottery's record sales came in fiscal 2008 when it sold $998 million.

A significant part of the sales increase this year was the Lucky-4-Life draw game introduced last year. That game's top prize is $2,000 a week for life. Instant ticket sales remain the largest part of the lottery's revenue, accounting for roughly 60 percent of overall sales.

Meanwhile, the state lottery has announced the reintroduction of instant ticket vending machines to state retail stores, starting Aug. 1, to try and keep the sales of instant tickets on budget.

The new machines will be able to scan driver's licenses to verify buyers' ages to keep minors from gambling, the main reason the devices were pulled from stores in 2001.