Tri-State Lotto Commission
June 1, 2007
Meeting Minutes:
TRI-STATE LOTTO COMMISSION
Lake Morey Resort
Fairlee, Vermont
JUNE 1, 2007
Present: Orland McPherson, Maine State Lottery
Richard Campbell, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Thomas Scala, Vermont Lottery
Dan Gwadosky, Maine State Lottery
Rick Wisler, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Alan Yandow, Vermont Lottery
Pam Coutts, Maine State Lottery
Rich Sperlazzi, Maine State Lottery
Lisa Rodrigue, Maine State Lottery
Maura McCann, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Kassie Strong, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Robert Preston, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Mary Cassani, Vermont Lottery
Sylvia Buzzell, Vermont Lottery
Virginia Barry, Vermont Lottery Commission
Art Ristau, Vermont Lottery Commission
Richard Bailey, Vermont Lottery Commission
Rose Longo-White, Griffin, York and Krause
Chris Nichols, NL Partners
Russ Leonard, NL Partners
Jen Cartmell, NL Partners
John Ripley, NL Partners
Karl Fortman, Scientific Games
Scott Parrott, Scientific Games
Diane Connell, Scientific Games
Leslie Badger, Scientific Games
Mary Wdowin, Scientific Games
Liz Dimmick, Scientific Games
Doug Parker, Scientific Games
Moe Pepin, Scientific Games
Carole Lacasse, Vermont Lottery
Chair McPherson called the meeting to order at 9 a.m.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE MAY 4, 2007 MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner Campbell to accept the May 4, 2007 minutes as distributed. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT - Mary Cassani
There was a review of the April financial report. Gross revenues have increased $1,581,286, or 2.86%, compared to last year. Of this increase, Megabucks sales are down in all three states $2,819,738, or 9.56%; Daily Numbers are down $662,270, or 3.22%; Paycheck sales combined with Triple Play sales are up overall $1,856,352, or 36.01%; and the Promotional Add-A-Play games increased sales $3,207,122. Net Profit increased from last year to date $803,441, or 4.33%. Contingency Funds are all in the positive. Expired unclaimed prizes climbed to over $1.4 million.
The auditors from Berry, Dunn, McNeil and Parker have visited each of the three states for interim field work and they intend to come back to Vermont the week of July 30th to finish up.
The Finance Committee met yesterday (May 30th). They finalized the FY08 budget which will be presented to the commission next month. They discussed revising the budget at least once during the fiscal year to reflect changes in sales forecast.
There was a discussion on the proposals received in response to our Legal RFP. The committee will seek advice from Jacob Humbert, Vermont Assistant Attorney General.
Each state needs to request their advertising requests for FY08 at today's meeting and the commission needs to vote on each request.
MOTION
FY08 advertising requests: Maine State Lottery requested $1.8 million, New Hampshire Lottery requested $700,000 and Vermont Lottery requested $950,000. Commissioner Campbell moved to accept the motion, seconded by Commissioner Scala. There was no discussion and the motion was approved unanimously by the commission.
Director Wisler asked for an additional $200,000 to the FY07 New Hampshire Lottery advertising budget.
MOTION
Commissioner Campbell moved the request, seconded by Commissioner Scala. The motion was defeated.
MARKETING COMMITTEE - Maura McCann
The press clip was distributed.
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE - Pam Coutts
The RFP for a Random Number Generator (RNG) has been sent out. This is a necessary piece of equipment in order to conduct a Raffle game. The timeframe for this RFP is very tight as a decision has to be made by August for the start-up date to be met.
Scientific Games gave a presentation yesterday on possible enhancements to Paycheck as well as replacement game ideas.
The committee reviewed the rules for the Raffle game. The rules are in draft form and will be finalized.
The committee discussed Fast Play with the next game to be Lucky Numbers followed by a holiday game.
The committee briefly reviewed suggested changes to the Tri-State Policies. They requested additional time to more thoroughly review the policies and update them.
DRAW COMMITTEE - Maura McCann
The Random Number Generator (RNG) RFP is out with proposals due June 22nd.
New drawing balls will be supplied by Smartplay in light of the cracked ball issue that many states have experienced.
The annual maintenance has been completed on all the drawing equipment.
OPERATIONS COMMITTEE - Alan Yandow
The committee has not met this past month. Alan has appointed Sylvia Buzzell to the committee representing Vermont.
SCIENTIFIC GAMES
SG recently followed up the Maine and New Hampshire release for Raffle and the Add-a-Play Baseball game in Vermont's release.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMMITTEE REPORTS
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Scala to accept the committee reports as presented. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
OTHER BUSINESS
Lockdown Timing Issue: Director Wisler explained that the New Hampshire lockdown staff will need additional time to lock down their facility in the case of a lockdown. Currently, there is a 30 minute time limit to get to the lottery facility. This is not feasible with their current staff. They would have to hire other staff members if left at the 30 minute time frame. Another option is to extend the time period to 45 minutes. With the extension of time, they could continue to utilize their current staff.
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Scala to extend the response time from 30 minutes to 45 minutes for lockdown staff to reach the lottery facility. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
Tri-State/New Hampshire Lottery Advertising Contract:
As a result of a recent Advertising RFP for Tri-State/New Hampshire Lottery advertising, Griffin York & Krause were selected. The contract is for a three-year period with one, two-year extension.
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Campbell to approve the three-year contract, with one, two-year extension, with Griffin York & Krause. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
Tri-State Policies: Pam Coutts requested the acceptance of the Policies be tabled until further review.
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Scala to table the acceptance of the Policies. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
Appointment of Tri-State Commission Officers for FY08:
Richard J. Campbell, Chair
Thomas Scala, Vice Chair
Orland McPherson, Commissioner
The July meeting is scheduled for the 13th at the New Hampshire Lottery Commission in Concord, NH.
A motion to adjourn was made at 9:35 a.m.