The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor has released a financial statement audit of the North Carolina Education Lottery, revealing a significant decrease in net revenues designated for public education despite an overall increase in lottery revenues.
READ MORE: When it comes to building schools, it takes more than just lottery money
The audit, conducted by the accounting firm Cherry Bekaert, assessed the financial position of the Education Lottery as of June 30 for the fiscal years 2024 and 2025. It found that while ticket sales increased, the amount allocated to public schools has decreased, prompting concerns among state officials.
In fiscal year 2024, the Education Lottery reported total annual revenues of $5.4 billion, resulting in $1.07 billion allocated to the North Carolina Education Lottery Fund for educational purposes. In fiscal year 2025, the total annual revenue rose to $6.6 billion; however, the net revenues designated for education slightly declined to $1.05 billion.
The percentage of lottery revenues allocated to public schools has faced a consistent decline. It dropped from 23% in fiscal year 2023 to 20% in 2024 and further decreased to 16% in 2025.
This has raised questions regarding the lottery’s effectiveness in contributing to public education funding despite the surge in total revenues.
State Auditor Dave Boliek, expressed the concerns about the findings, stating, “North Carolinians have a reasonable expectation that if the Education Lottery’s ticket sales go up, money going toward our public schools would increase as well. At first glance, these numbers raise a lot of questions. Over the last three years, total revenues have increased by a total of over $3 billion, while contributions to public education have been flat.”
In response to these findings, a performance audit of the Education Lottery has been initiated by OSA. This marks the first comprehensive performance audit of the Education Lottery since 2008 and follows a narrowly tailored investigative report released by OSA in 2012.
The performance audit aims to delve deeper into the Education Lottery’s financial operations, addressing the discrepancies between increased revenues and stagnant educational contributions. Further findings from this audit are expected to provide clearer insights into the situation.
VIDEO: Woman wins $250K lottery prize, celebrates at local gas station
