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Lottery money helps fund Michigan schools and benefits businesses, officials say

Powerball New York lottery tickets: MONTREAL, CANADA - DECEMBER 23, 2016
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Powerball New York lottery tickets: MONTREAL, CANADA - DECEMBER 23, 2016

Michigan schools will receive more than $1.3 billion dollars from lottery sales in 2023. A retailer who sells tickets in Comstock Park tells Dee Morrison those sales are important to small businesses too.

Party World on Alpine Avenue in Comstock Park is known as the “luckiest place in Michigan to buy lottery tickets” after a streak of big winners started twelve years ago with a $57 million dollar win.

"We’re at a total of ten winners of over $50 thousand or more now."

Store manager Dave Castor says retailers receive commissions for selling winning tickets, and that can be a big help to small businesses where every dollar counts.

“Selling a Mega Millions or a Powerball jackpot, you get $50,000. Otherwise the most you can get is $2,000 but we’ll take every little bit we can get.”

According to the Michigan Lottery, tickets are sold at more than 10,000 locations in the state. Retailers were paid more than $350 million in commissions this year. Under state law, all profits from the lottery go to the School Aid Fund, which has totaled more than $1 billion dollars each of the last five years.