Michael,

Thanks for highlighting another misuse of lottery funds. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the law that prohibits counties from using lottery funds for improvements to athletics facilities. Don’t be fooled – there is an educational benefit here. Expect the turf to raise the self-esteem of students in Haywood County, inspiring them to want to learn and perform better on state tests.

Haywood County will receive approximately $500,000 in lottery funds (for school facilities) for the 2007-2008 school year. Those funds could have been used to pay the debt service on a bond or COPs for the estimated $20 million in school facilities needs that the county reported it had.