TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Lottery ticket sales dropped by more than $100 million last year, ending a 7-year streak of record sales.
The Record reports the lottery sold $3.186 billion in tickets in fiscal 2017 compared to $3.289 billion in the 2016 fiscal year. Sales fell $30 million short of budget projections last year.
Officials did not say why sales dropped.
The private operator of the lottery, Northstar New Jersey, was awarded $1 million less in fees and expenses than it earned in 2016.
Despite the drop in ticket sales, the lottery contributed more money than it had the previous year to education and social service programs.
Republican Gov. Chris Christie last year signed a law that redirects lottery revenue to the public employee pension fund beginning this fiscal year.
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