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Local retailers apply to sell lottery tickets
By Derek Hodges
Fourteen Jackson County retailers have applied to be among the first selling North Carolina Education Lottery tickets.
Sales of instant win or scratch-off tickets are scheduled to begin March 30. The application deadline for businesses who want to sell the tickets on that date was Feb. 3.
Among businesses submitting applications before the deadline were Catamount Travel Centers in Cullowhee and Cherokee; Farley Super Track; Moonshine Mini Mart; Enmark Station #835; Aztex #216; Elders Superette; Cashiers Exxon; Mountain Breeze Marts in Sylva and Dillsboro; Cody’s Hot Spot, Pops Country Store, and Mountain Energy Shell Station.
In order to be approved for the sales, a store must undergo criminal background and credit checks. In addition, a retailer must receive at least 75 percent of its profit from sources other than the lottery. Those selling lottery tickets will receive a 7 percent commission.
According to the North Carolina Education Lottery Web site, applications remain open for other retailers who want to sell the tickets, but those retailers will not begin sales until after March 30.
The lottery has been under scrutiny since it was approved by a narrow margin in the General Assembly last year. Since then three members of the nine-member board established to run the lottery have resigned.
It has also faced legal challenges, including a pending lawsuit that could stop the lottery or send the issue back to legislatures for another vote.
All proceeds from the lottery are expected to be used for education, including school construction and scholarships, according to the Lottery Commission’s Web site says.
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