RALEIGH
Pay raises for employees at the N.C. Lottery could be more than double those that other state employees will receive, and the N.C. Lottery Commission is spending $45,000 for a study to see if the pay for its workers is too low.
This week, the Lottery Commission has approved average raises of 5 percent for its 225 employees, the Raleigh News & Observer reported yesterday. Gov. Mike Easley has proposed giving state workers who aren't public-school teachers a 1.5 percent raise and a one-time cash bonus starting July 1.
Although some legislative leaders want to give them more, the final result likely will fall short of what lottery employees are getting.
Lottery employees are considered state workers, but their pay comes from lottery-ticket sales, not the regular tax revenue that pays most state workers.
Lottery employees don't get the across-the-board raises the General Assembly approves for most state workers.
The lottery's executive director, Tom Shaheen, said that his agency has found it hard to hire and retain good employees because other employers offer higher pay.
"We're the only ones that have to market a consumer product and try to operate in the private business world as a state agency," Shaheen said, adding that the lottery has six vacant positions.
Shaheen is paid $246,000 a year, making him the fourth-highest-paid state employee, excluding those at universities.
State Auditor Les Merritt said in a recent study that management pay at the state lottery is in line with lotteries in other states.
The lottery projects that it will sell $1.27 billion worth of lottery tickets in the coming year and produce $386 million for education after its expenses.
Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, the Senate minority leader, said that the pay increases raise questions.
"If they've got that much extra money, maybe they ought to turn it over to the schools," Berger said.
He said that the lottery pay increases are poorly timed, given that the state budget lacks the money to be generous to other state employees.
Easley has proposed an average
7 percent raise for teachers, but other employees are in line for a 1.5 percent raise and a $1,000 bonus.
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