MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin’s lottery director plans to step down later this month after more than a dozen years on the job.
Mike Edmonds sent a message to his staff on Nov. 12 announcing that his last day will be Dec. 18. He did not say why he was leaving. Instead, he touted the growth of ticket sales since he took over, despite competition from video poker, fantasy sports and pull-tabs.
“Never, ever, give up the fun. Thanks,” Edmonds wrote.
Edmonds didn’t immediately respond to phone and email messages from The Associated Press on Wednesday. Asked why Edmonds chose to step down, lottery spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said in an email that political appointees get moved around and replaced. She didn’t immediately respond to a follow-up email asking her to elaborate.
Michael Morgan, when he was secretary of the state Department of Revenue in Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration, appointed Edmonds as lottery director in 2003. Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s spokeswoman, Laurel Patrick, didn’t immediately respond to an email inquiring about whether Walker’s administration decided to replace Edmonds.
Lottery ticket sales have risen in recent years, growing from $481 million in fiscal year 2009-10 to $569 million in 2013-14, according to reports from the state audit bureau.
The lottery’s expenses, which are comprised mostly of prizes and retailer compensation, grew from $340 million in fiscal year 2009-10 to $409 million in 2013-14, under the statutory limit of no more than 10 percent of gross revenues each of those years.
The Wisconsin Constitution requires the lottery to distribute net proceeds as property tax relief. Since the lottery began in 1988 it has provided $3.7 billion in such relief through 2013-14 according to the audit bureau. Between 2009-10 and 2013-14 proceeds distributed for relief rose from $127 million to $168 million, according to the audit bureau.
Critics have contended that the lottery hasn’t lived up to grandiouse predictions of lucrative property tax relief. State Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, complained in 2013 that people sold the lottery as a major tax cut but it hasn’t delivered. He didn’t immediately return a telephone message left at his office in the state Capitol on Wednesday.
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Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
