The Arkansas Lottery Commission on Wednesday authorized 2 percent cost of-living raises for its 80 employees, including Director Bishop Woosley, in the fiscal year starting Monday and merit raises for most of the lottery’s employees, including Woosley.
Woosley, whose annual pay is $165,000 a year, said he’ll receive a lump-sum payment of $2,832 in June 2014 from his 2 percent cost-of living adjustment (COLA) raise, but not an increase in his base salary, though the raises will add to the base for some other employees.
He said he will receive a 3 percent merit raise soon in the form of a lump sum of $4,248.
That payment arrangement arises because $141,603 is the maximum salary for a lottery director under state law and that’s considered to be his salary for the purpose of computing his cost-of-living raises and merit raises and retirement, Woosley said.
But the law allows the Legislature’s lottery oversight committee to give directors a special allowance on top of their base salary.
Any pay above $141,603 up to $354,007 a year requires the approval of the oversight committee under state law. The committee approved $165,000 a year for Woosley’s salary and allowance after the commission promoted him from chief legal counsel to director in February 2012.
Former Director Ernie Passailaigue, who guided the development of the lottery from June 2009 to October 2011, was paid $326,823 a year. He resigned after two state audits critical of the lottery and two unsuccessful bids by two commissioners to oust him amid a cornucopia of controversy at the lottery.
The commission gave Internal Auditor Matthew Brown and Woosley favorable job evaluations in a private meeting Monday, according to commission Chairman George Hammons of Pine Bluff.
Woosley said Brown, who has worked for the lottery since July 2012 at a $110,000 annual salary, will get a $2,200 boost in his salary with the 2 percent raise in fiscal 2014. He said Brown is not eligible for a merit raise in the current fiscal year.
Seventy-two of the lottery’s 80 employees will get merit raises, he said.
“We are happy for our employees,” Woosley told reporters. “We don’t always get COLAs, and we don’t always get merits, so anytime that they can get a merit or a COLA, I am happy for them.”
Most state employees didn’t receive a cost-of-living raise in fiscal 2012 and 2013 after the Legislature declined to provide funding for the raises.
With no debate, the commission Wednesday approved motions by Commissioner Dianne Lamberth of Batesville to grant cost-of-living raises and merit raises to eligible lottery employees in line with similar raises for other state employees that Gov. Mike Beebe has authorized.
State employees are eligible for 2 percent cost-of-living raises in fiscal 2014 and merit raises of either 1.5 percent, 3 percent or 4.5 percent in fiscal 2013.
The commission signed off on these raises two days after Woosley told them that he hopes the lottery raises at least $90 million for college scholarships in the fiscal year that ends Sunday. He originally projected the lottery would generate $98.5 million for college scholarships before he cut his projection to $90 million in November.
The lottery started selling tickets on Sept. 28, 2009, and raised $82.7 million for college scholarships during its first nine months in fiscal 2010. Then it raised $94.2 million for scholarships in fiscal 2011 and $97.5 million in fiscal 2012.
Asked why the lottery employees, including himself, deserve raises in light of declining net proceeds for college scholarships, Woosley replied, “We’ve got a clean audit. We have stabilized any of the issues in the lottery.
“And under any circumstances, we have exceeded all expectations of the lottery from startup. The startup numbers were $55 [million or] $60 million a year. So far, we have exceeded that by $30 [million] or $35 million a year,” he said.
The state Department of Finance and Administration originally estimated the lottery would raise about $55 million a year in net proceeds.
Former Lt. Gov. Bill Halter of North Little Rock, who led a campaign to persuade voters to authorize a state lottery for college scholarships in Amendment 87 in 2008, and Passailaigue both estimated the lottery would raise about $100 million a year for college scholarships. Passailaigue originally projected the lottery would raise $116.4 million for college scholarships in fiscal 2011 before he cut that projection.
The lottery has helped finance more than 30,000 scholarships to students in each of the past three school years,
Earlier this year, the Legislature overhauled the Academic Challenge Scholarship program, citing a greater number of students receiving scholarships than had been projected and the lottery’s net proceeds failing to provide enough money to fund scholarships for future recipients at current levels.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/27/2013