NAMPA, Idaho (AP) – An Idaho school district’s struggle to fix its finances won’t get a boost from a charity home raffle, after concerns raised by the state lottery agency prompted a promoter to scrap the giveaway just a week after it was announced.
The Idaho Lottery Commission told retired developer Phil Allaire that his plan to sell $100 raffle tickets to raise $4.3 million to eventually benefit the Nampa School District was a potential violation of state and federal laws.
Among other things, the raffle was selling tickets online, something that isn’t permitted in Idaho.
Nampa School District spokeswoman Allison Westfall said Tuesday that the district appreciated Allaire’s sentiment but it doesn’t appear the fundraiser will happen.
Allaire planned to give away a house after 2,500 tickets had been sold. He had hoped the proceeds would ease the district’s $5.1 million deficit. The shortfall was the result of financial mismanagement that has forced officials to consider job cuts.
Allaire, who announced his plan to help the school district on May 22, said he’ll return money to the 49 people who purchased tickets already.
“The same form of bureaucracy and incompetence of government that created the financial crisis” is blocking a solution, Allaire told the Idaho Statesman. “It is going to get to the point where the courts are going to get involved.”
In addition to banning the Internet sale of tickets, Idaho requires raffles to name a definite date for holding a drawing.
Allaire’s plan called for simply holding the drawing after the 2,500-ticket threshold was reached.
His plan also ran into problems because he said he’d give proceeds from the raffle to the Nampa schools after deducting expenses for fixing up the home. But in Idaho, “donated prizes are considered to have no cost,” meaning plans to cover the expenses with the raffle proceeds isn’t allowed, according to the Lottery’s letter.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
