Tri State Meeting
July 13, 2007
Meeting Minutes:
TRI-STATE LOTTO COMMISSION
New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Concord, NH
July 13, 2007
Present: Richard Campbell, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Thomas Scala, Vermont Lottery
Orland McPherson, Maine State Lottery
Rick Wisler, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Alan R. Yandow, Vermont Lottery
Dan Gwadosky, Maine State Lottery
Maura McCann, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Robert Preston, New Hampshire Lottery Commission
Mary Cassani, Vermont Lottery
Lisa Rodrigue, Maine State Lottery
Rich Sperlazzi, Maine State Lottery
Darrell Frecker, Scientific Games
Liz Dimmick, Scientific Games
Moe Pepin, Scientific Games
Karl Fortman, Scientific Games
Rose Longo-White, Griffin, York and Krause
Jen Cartmell, NL Partners
John Ripley, NL Partners
Chris Nichols, NL Partners
Carole Lacasse, Vermont Lottery
The July 13th meeting was called to order by Chair Campbell at 10:35 am.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE JUNE 1, 2007 MINUTES
A motion was made by Commissioner McPherson to accept the June 1, 2007 minutes as distributed. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT - Mary Cassani
Gross revenues through May 2007 have increased $1,956,632, or 3.24% compared to last year. Net Profit through May 2007 increased from last year $712,993, or 3.52%. . Expired unclaimed prizes are up over $1.4 million.
Contingency Funds are in the positive except for Paycheck, due to the frequency of the jackpot being hit.
The budget comparison reports for each state have been changed to conform to GASB standards at the request of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission.
The FY08 budget is included in the packets; however, it does not include the figure for a Random Number Generator (RNG). Purchase price info will be presented during the Draw Committee report.
Commissioner Scala questioned the population figures being used. Mary will look into this.
MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT - Maura McCann
The press clip was distributed.
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE - Maura McCann
The committee recommended Commission acceptance of the proposed Policy changes.
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Scala to accept the proposed changes to the Tri-State Lotto Commission Policies. Changes were made to Policy Numbers 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative with corrections as noted.
Raffle Rules were included in the packets; however, the committee requested tabling the request to accept the rules until the next commission meeting. A revised set of rules will be included in next month’s packet. There was a question and answer period on the preliminary rules.
Proposed advertising was discussed. The drawing is scheduled for January 4, 2008 at 10 am. It was noted that tickets can not be cashed until January 5th.
The next Fast Play game will be Lucky Numbers. This is scheduled to go on sale August 13th. Winner Green will come out after Lucky Numbers and is scheduled to run through the holiday season.
Game changes and enhancements: Paycheck is still doing well. The committee would like to survey players as to why they like the game. Depending on the answers received, the committee can decide whether to enhance the current game or make an outright change. Scientific Games has submitted a number of new concepts for the committee to review.
Individual state promotions will be brought to the committee for other states to view and possibly share with each other.
July 4, 2008 Raffle: This will be discussed amongst the states for possible implementation.
Policy No. 15 – Standards for Sales Promotions: The Chair of the Marketing or Development Committees, in concurrence with the Finance Committee Chair, shall request a sum of expired, unclaimed prizes to be allocated to each of the member states proportional to each states’ total sale for the most recent fiscal year ended to be used for promotions or promotional games. This request shall be made by the July Tri-State Lotto Commission meeting.
Maura McCann, Chair of the Development Committee, requested the use of $1.4 million from the expired, unclaimed prize fund for use of promotions and to fund the Fast Play prizes. This would be prorated by sales for each state as of June 30th.
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Scala to approve the expenditure of $1.4 million from the expired, unclaimed prize fund to be allocated to each of the member states proportional to each states’ total sales for the most recent fiscal year end. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
DRAW COMMITTEE - Maura McCann
Random Number Generator (RNG) Proposal: Five companies were requested to provide responses to our RNG draw system RFP by 4 pm June 22, 2007. Three proposals were received: 1) Multi-State Lotto Association, 2) Szrek2Solutions, LLC and 3) Smartplay International, Inc. The three companies were scored. Based upon the scores and following a reference check the committee recommended awarding the contract to MUSL. Once the RNG is built, there would be an independent evaluation done to certify the randomness of the program. This evaluation would cost between $5,000 and $10,000.
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner Scala to award the RNG Contract to MUSL. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
OPERATIONS COMMITTEE - Alan Yandow
The committee has conducted one conference call since the last commission meeting. The committee is currently working on the SRS template.
SCIENTIFIC GAMES
SG has received the software inhouse for Lucky Numbers. It will be tested then turned over to the individual state lotteries for internal testing. Lucky Numbers is scheduled to be launched August 13th.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE COMMITTEE REPORTS
A motion was made by Commissioner McPherson to accept the reports as presented. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
OTHER BUSINESS
FY08 Proposed Budget:
MOTION
A motion was made to accept the proposed FY08 budget with the inclusion of $23,500 to cover the purchase and certification of a Random Number Generator. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
Appointment of Standing Committees:
Operations Committee: New Hampshire: Robert Preston
Maine: Rich Sperlazzi
Vermont: Sylvia Buzzell
Finance Committee: New Hampshire: Kassie Strong
Maine: Denise Garland
Vermont: Mary Cassani
Marketing Committee: New Hampshire: Maura McCann
Maine: Lisa Rodrigue
Vermont: Hadley Melendy
Draw Committee: New Hampshire: Maura McCann
Development Committee: New Hampshire: Maura McCann
Maine: Rich Sperlazzi
Vermont: Mary Cassani
MOTION
A motion was made by Commissioner McPherson to accept the Director appointments to the Standing Committees. Motion was seconded and voted in the affirmative.
The next commission meeting is scheduled for Friday, August 3, 2007, at the New Hampshire Lottery Commission in Concord, NH.
A motion to adjourn was made at 11:55 am.