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Has the lottery made Durango a winner?

A few have won big prizes, while public lands have benefited from lottery proceeds

Horse Gulch. Dallabetta Park. Multiuse fields. Animas River Trail. Joe Stephenson Park in Bayfield. Durango Skate Park.

Coloradans welcomed the lottery in 1983 with mixed joy and trepidation. Now, even though no one here has become a multimillionaire, as the lottery enters its 31st year, we can look back on a number of ways lottery funds have benefited the state and La Plata County residents.

Profits from the lottery are distributed based on a formula created when Colorado started in the lottery business, said Matt Robbins, community relations specialist for the Colorado Lottery.

Of the money that doesn’t go toward prizes or running the lottery, 50 percent goes to the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund, 40 percent is deposited in the Conservation Trust Fund and 10 percent is distributed to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, primarily for use in maintenance and upkeep of state parks. Great Outdoors Colorado, or GOCO, funds are capped at $35 million annually, adjusted for inflation to $60.3 million in 2014.

Money that exceeds the cap goes to the Colorado Department of Education Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund.

“GOCO grants are pretty competitive, but we’ve gotten our share,” said Cathy Metz, director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Durango. “Conservation Trust Fund dollars are distributed on a per capita basis, and we’ve managed to leverage those dollars with city dollars to make some nice open-space purchases.”

In 2013, county residents spent about $3.8 million on lottery tickets. The profits, $757,000, were divided among the three funds.

We have received $19.1 million from the three funds to date.

Here are the top 10 grants to La Plata County (numbers have been rounded):

Jacob’s Cliffs open space acquisition: $3.02 million.

Horse Gulch parcel acquisition from Fort Lewis: $1.2 million.

City of Durango multi-use fields: $700,000.

Animas River greenway, Harley to Carvon: $505,400.

Animas River greenway, Cameron-Sterk (Oxbow): $400,000.

City of Durango multiuse fields upkeep: $350,000.

La Plata County Fairgrounds: $293,400.

Horse Gulch Foundation parcel: $250,000.

Horse Gulch preservation project: $234,500.

Dallabetta Park development: $200,000.

“I call Horse Gulch Durango’s Central Park and talk about it all over the state,” Robbins said. “It is so fun to see people commuting through there to (Mercy Regional Medical Center) on their bicycles in scrubs and suits.”

‘Show me the money’

The lottery does not release the full names of winners.

“It’s a state decision,” Christopher said. “We are one of the more protective states when it comes to winners. I do not release full names and contact information to the public or the press unless they have agreed to it, which is typically few and far between.”

The lottery does release first names and last initial, so Cheryl W. of Durango and Cletis C. of Bayfield were the happy recipients of the $1 million prizes.

There are 32 businesses in La Plata County that sell lottery tickets, lottery communications manager Brooke Christopher said. South City Market sells the most tickets.

Retailers who sell big Powerball or Mega Millions winning tickets receive a bonus. Only the 7-2-11 Food Store on north Main Avenue got a bonus – $3,000 – for selling a $1 million Powerball winner between 2010 and 2013.

The store also sold a $20,000 winner on the Pair-A-Dice game in 2012, making it only one of two merchants to sell more than one big winner in the last few years. The Everyday Store at College Drive and East Eighth Avenue has sold both a $50,000 and a $75,000 winner.

Do we get our fair share?

Funding from the three funds is distributed in several ways. Communities and organizations can apply for grants from GOCO. Conservation Grant Funds are based on population. Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages its 10 percent, using it primarily for the upkeep of state parks and wildlife education, Robbins said.

GOCO proceeds are not distributed based on a per capita basis, Robbins said, explaining that Montezuma County, with $2.2 million in lottery ticket sales last year and 25,642 residents, as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau for 2013, has received $14.2 million in proceeds since 1983. Meanwhile, La Plata County, with more than twice as many residents, 53,284, has only received 50 percent more in funding, $19.1 million.

A statewide investment

The Colorado Lottery has kept a scorecard of its accomplishments over three decades:

$2.5 billion invested in Colorado’s outdoor and recreation sector.

More than 1 million acres of open space and natural lands preserved.

More than 1,000 community parks created or enhanced.

42 state parks built, hosting 12 million visits annually, enhanced and maintained.

More than 500,000 children have received wildlife education.

Since money began funding the building or restoration of hiking and biking trails in 1994, 764 miles of trails have been completed.

“Those GOCO funds have made a huge difference across the entire state, and we’re no exception to that,” Metz said. “We’ve made some improvements to our city we couldn’t have afforded otherwise.”

GOCO funds will go into the development of the Whitewater Park this summer, she said, and can be seen along the Animas River Trail and at the new sports complex at Fort Lewis College.

“They encourage communities to partner with other groups,” Metz said, “so a lot of the smaller organizations that will benefit from a project are involved. They create a greater good for the entire community.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

Jan 14, 2016
City Market in Durango sells $50,000 Powerball winner


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